With Environmental Impact Statement scoping hearings for the Sheridan Expressway set to begin, it’s do or die time for the New York State Dept. of Transportation to agree to study an alternate, community-generated plan for the highway and surrounding neighborhood. Local community-based organizations and regional transportation watchdog groups have been pushing DOT for years to study their plan, dubbed the ‘Community Alternative,’ alongside other expensive and complicated alternatives, including the complete reconstruction of the Bruckner-Sheridan interchange.

In scoping documents released earlier this week, NYSDOT outlined some of the possible alternatives for the project, including each of the three major elements of the Community Alternative – demapping the Sheridan Expressway (freeing up 28 acres of open space), constructing new ramps off the Bruckner Expressway at Leggett Avenue (easing access into Hunts Point Market), and elevating portions of the Bruckner Expressway (increasing safety for both drivers and pedestrians). Acknowledging all the components of the Community Alternative is a huge step forward for DOT who have previously resisted elements of the proposal, most notably the decommissioning of the Sheridan.

DOT now has one major step left – agreeing to study all three pieces as a single alternative, and not simply elements of other alternatives. The Community Alternative’s inclusion in the EIS process has the support of numerous community organizations and politicians, including State Senator Diaz, State Assemblyman Diaz, Councilman Serrano, and Bronx Borough Pres. Carrion.

Public scoping meetings for the Bruckner-Sheridan project will be held in the Bronx on March 18 from 5-9 p.m. at the Hunts Point Library and March 20 from 5-9 p.m. at the Bronx Borough Board Briefing Room (see Calendar for more). DOT’s draft scoping documents for the project can be found at: www.dot.state.ny.us/reg/r11/bese/scoping/dbrifdoc.html. 

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