Res. No. 544 Resolution calling upon the New York State Department of Transportation to provide, upon its completion, the results of an analysis on the impact on traffic of decommissioning the Sheridan Expressway and calls upon the Department to consider the alternative of decommissioning the Expressway and turning it into a park in the environmental impact statement being prepared for a series of related projects that will improve the Sheridan Expressway. By Council Member Carrion Whereas, The State of New York Department of Transportation (DOT) is currently developing a preliminary design (Project No. X027.01) to improve safety and operation of the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx with a full upgrade which will include pavement rehabilitation and new geometric features; and, Whereas, DOT is also planning a series of related projects to further improve the infrastructure, operations, and safety on the Expressway and its interchanges; and, Whereas, The impact of these projects on the environment will be assessed by a consultant team that is expected to be selected in 1999; and, Whereas, The estimated costs of these projects can not be determined until the Environmental Impact Statement is completed, a cost estimate for two of these interchange improvements has been developed during the preliminary scoping work; and, Whereas, The preliminary estimate of costs provided the DOT Region 11 for improvements at the Bruckner-Sheridan Interchange (Project No. X730.39) is approximately $150 million, but some estimates are as high as $245 million; and, Whereas, The cost of improvements at the Sheridan-Cross Bronx Interchange (Project No. X110.8) are expected to fall between $75 and $100 million; and, Whereas, Cost estimates must also be prepared for the Bruckner-Bronx River Parkway Interchange, the third interchange that requires upgrading; and, Whereas, The Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx is only 1.25 miles long; and, Whereas, The Expressway occupies approximately 28 acres in the West Farms and Hunts Point neighborhoods with 98,000 residents that are served by Community Boards 2 and 3; and Whereas, According to The New York City Department of City Planning these neighborhoods have only 160 acres of parkland, but the national standard is six acres per thousand; and, Whereas, Community Boards 2 and 3 have listed open space and parks as one of their unmet needs because they have only one-quarter of this recommended standard; and, Whereas, The Sheridan Expressway was originally conceived by Robert Moses to be a north-south route through The Bronx linking the New England Thruway, the Cross-Bronx Expressway and the Bruckner Expressway; and Whereas, Opposition from the community and other interested parties prevented the completion of the northern segment of the Expressway and led some to call the Expressway, "the highway to nowhere"; and Whereas, Starting from the East, the Hutchinson, Bronx River Parkway, the Bruckner Expressway, the Major Deegan Expressway and the Harlem River provide alternate north-south routes to the Sheridan Expressway; and Whereas, Average Daily use on the Sheridan Expressway is 34,000 vehicles a day and 2,000 trucks a day; and Whereas, DOT is undertaking a traffic modeling analysis as part of its Bronx Arterial Needs Study, and will estimate probable impacts on local streets and neighborhoods if the Sheridan Expressway is eliminated; and Whereas, This analysis is expected to be completed by March 1999, now, therefore, be it Resolved, that this Council calls upon the New York State Department of Transportation to provide, upon its completion, the results of an analysis on the impact on traffic of decommissioning the Sheridan Expressway and calls upon the Department to consider the alternative of decommissioning the Expressway and turning it into a park in the environmental impact statement being prepared for a series of related projects that will improve the Sheridan Expressway. Ls#1118 NMR:ts 12/04/98 |1013| 4