Update: May 17, 2013:

The Sheridan Expressway-Hunts Point Study interagency team is sponsoring a public meeting on  Tuesday, May 21st, 2013,  6:30 PM at The Cinema School - 1551 E 172nd St Bronx, NY 10472. We urge all interested stakeholders to attend this meeting.  The SEHP study will reach completion at the end of June 2013.  Please take this opportunity to engage with the study team prior to the release of final recommendations. During the meeting a formal presentation covering the following topics will be provided: Review of Sheridan Expressway Design Options/Scenarios Findings from Comparative Scenario Analysis Brief Overview of Transportation Analysis Land Use Analysis Jobs Impact Analysis Sustainability Analysis Draft Recommended Actions for the Sheridan Expressway Next Steps Discussion To RSVP e-mail Sheridan_hp@planning.nyc.gov

Sheridan Expressway, view south from 174th Street bridge

The ‘Sheridan-Hunts Point Land Use and Transportation Study’ (SEHP) is an intensive interdisciplinary study of the neighborhoods and infrastructure surrounding the Sheridan Expressway.  The study is being undertaken by an interagency team consisting of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, the Department of City Planning, the Department of Transportation, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability. The broad scope of the study seeks to address community concerns over land use, waterfront access, transportation and economic development, and take advantage of emerging opportunities for new housing and retail.  Having held numerous meetings and planning workshops with the community, the City’s multi-agency team will develop proposals that respond to community priorities, which include improving public access to parks along the Bronx River and providing safety improvements to the existing pedestrian network.

The SEHP study began in 2010 when the City of New York was awarded a 1.5 million dollar TIGER II planning grant from the United States Department of Transportation.  At this time, the study was associated with work being done by the New York State Department of Transportation (SDOT), which, since 2001, had been studying proposals to alleviate bottlenecks on the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) at its interchange with the Sheridan Expressway (I-895) and the Bronx River Parkway.   SDOT has since discontinued its study, making the SEHP study all the more important to ensure that local transportation, development, and quality of life concerns are recognized, understood, and addressed. 

Currently, the multi-agency team is exploring improvements that would be designed to work in scenarios in which the Sheridan Expressway were retained or modified.  While the removal of the Expressway was at one time considered an option; strategies currently being considered aim to strike a balance between an increasingly vibrant residential area and the need to maintain efficient routes for traffic traveling to Hunts Point, the economic and employment core of the area.  These strategies take into consideration the opportunities to enhance transit rich neighborhoods around the Sheridan Expressway with new and affordable housing, open space, improved pedestrian amenities and strengthened commercial corridors, all called for by the community.

The City is committed to the original goals of the land use and transportation study, and to its approach of working with our community partners to develop a shared vision for the future of this area.