Hutch-Metro roadway study; needs
highway on-, off-ramps to relieve traffi c
operates the offi ce park.
“We certainly feel it
would be a great asset for
us and to the entire area to
have an access road off of
the Hutchinson River Parkway,”
said Kelleher, adding
it would serve all of the complex’s
tenants and the city’s
911 Call Center.
Outgoing Senator Jeff
Klein funded the study,
which was announced with
fanfare in May 2015 and began
in summer 2015 with a
$1 million allocation to the
NYC Department of Transportation.
The funding for the feasibility
study was to produce a
timeline and budget for the
work, said Kelleher.
It came on the heels of
an earlier Department of
City Planning study of the
Hutchinson River Parkway
corridor during the
Bloomberg administration
that raised the possibility of
direct access to the Hutchinson
Metro Center area from
the parkway, said Kelleher.
“Klein was trying to raise
the funds to make this study
a reality, which has not happened
yet but which I think
will,” said Kelleher.”
Kelleher believes that a
direct link to the parkway
would encourage future economic
development, not only
at the Hutchinson Metro
Center but the area around
the complex, and also provide
another way to access
a Metro North station scheduled
to arrive in 2023 near
Eastchester Road.
He also stressed that the
DOT study contains estimates
and projections, and
that the type of work needed
or the cost may change or be
different from what is in the
study.
The study was completed
in the spring, but released to
the community recently.
It contains a projected
budget for the connecting
roadway and related
DOT improvements at
$53,642,671.
Additionally, other related
projects included in
the study were sewer and
water main work along the
Hutchinson River Parkway
and the new roadways.
Also included was a new
NYC Department of Environmental
Protection sewer
line between Fink Avenue
and Westchester Creek.
Those two parts of the
overall projected project
were estimated to cost just
over $24 million and $35
million respectively in
the city’s Fiscal Year 2022,
bringing the total projected
cost to$127,939,521.
The roadways under
consideration would divert
traffi c away from Waters
Place, currently the main
thoroughfare that
accesses Marconi
Place, a street that
leads in and out of
major commercial
development s,
said Michelle Torrioni,
Pelham Bay
Taxpayers Association
president.
“A link from
the Hutchinson
River Parkway
for the people who
work at the center
and who go
there for doctor’s
appointments is
a great idea and
would alleviate
a lot of the traffi
c on Waters
Place,” said Torrioni,
though she
stressed she isn’t
a traffi c expert
and wondered
how such a project
would be funded.
J e r e m y
Warneke, Community
Board 11 district manager,
said that those board
members who are aware of
the possible new infrastructure
are supportive.
A local activist who was
part of the grassroots East
Bronx Traffi c Coalition effort
when the study began,
John Doyle, said his primary
concern was the cost.
Kelleher said that a direct
roadway link to the
Hutchinson River Parkway
proposal goes back as many
as 15 years.
He also said that he believes
that EMS and FDNY
vehicles would have an easier
time accessing the campus
that has 7,500 workers
and 3,400 daily visitors.
A DOT spokeswoman
stated about the study: “The
city has no current or future
plans to construct the
ramps.”
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from Page 1
A conceptual plan was studied concerning
possible additional roads and other infrastructure
improvements near the Hutchinson
River Parkway and Marconi Street. File
photo
DOT approves MP ‘road diet’
over community opposition
The Morris Park Avenue “road diet” plan’s approval has some in the community contemplating next
moves. Under the plan, the traffi c pattern of Morris Park Avenue would be greatly altered for one and
a half miles. Schneps Community News Group / Patrick Rocchio
an injunction against the
plan, said D’Angelo.
D’Angelo also said that
he expects small businesses
and local shoppers who
park along the commercial
corridor to be impacted.
The MPCA had a wellattended
town hall meeting
on Wednesday, November
28, with almost all present
opposing the road plan.
At that meeting, Assemblyman
Michael Benedetto,
Assemblywoman
Nathalia Fernandez and
Councilman Mark Gjonaj
all said they would support
the community in their opposition.
“I, alongside other
elected offi cials in the community,
have been against
the establishment of the
road diet,” said Fernandez.
“However, our protests fell
upon deaf ears; it is incredibly
frustrating when the
community’s input is asked
for but then ignored.”
“The administration’s
insistence on pursuing a
road diet of Morris Park
Avenue, despite intense
community opposition,
is just a continuation of
the ‘City Hall knows best’
approach we’ve all become
accustomed to,” said
Gjonaj, who added that he
will work with DOT and
the community to come up
with a solution that doesn’t
harm quality of life.
MPCA’s petition effort
garnered over 1,000 signatures
opposing the DOT
plan, said D’Angelo.
According to DOT, from
2012 to 2016, there were 317
injuries on Morris Park
Avenue in the road diet
area, with 26 of them rated
serious.
“The city made the decision
to move forward with
this design because it is the
one that offers the greatest
protection to the largest
number of street users,”
said a DOT spokesman.
“This redesign will reduce
speeding, facilitate safer
left turns, make pedestrians
more visible to drivers
and minimize double parking
on a retail corridor.”
DOT statistics show that
traffi c calming doesn’t signifi
cantly increase travel
times, and by decreasing
double parking, maintains
traffi c fl ow despite having
one fewer lane, the spokesman
stated.
Amril Hamer, Bronx organizer
for Transportation
Alternatives, an organization
that promotes pedestrian
safety, said that she
was glad that DOT decided
to go with its original plan
for Morris Park Avenue, as
it had gone through several
iterations over the
past year.
“They should keep in
mind that we are thinking
about the safety of the community,”
she said.
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