A Cross Bronx Expressway through Hell!

Cross Bronx Expressway Length: 6.5 mi] (10.5 km):
West end: I-95 / US 1 (Trans-Manhattan)
East end: I-295 (Throgs Neck)

There are 31 bridges and expressways and highways located in New York City. According to the Rate the Roads website only one expressway was rated with the lowest score, and that is the Cross Bronx Expressway. The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway located in the New York City borough of the Bronx. We have master builder Robert Moses to thank for the conception of this bridge. It was built between the years of 1948-1972. Although the Cross Bronx Expressway was considered to be “an engineering marvel” I ask myself one question,was it worth destroying an enormity of low-income neighborhoods in the South Bronx?

“The construction of this expressway from hell was the worst invention ever conceived, said commuter Ida Martinez. I cringe when my GPS calculates any route involving the Cross Bronx Expressway.”

Robert Caro, author of “The Power Broker “the first and notably only detailed biography on Robert Moses argued Moses’ intentions whilst constructing this freeway. Caro believed that building this expressway smack dab in the middle of these particular neighborhoods was Moses’ intent even though he had other viable options that would have been able to savor these neighborhoods. This decision on behalf of Moses had severe circumstances; the decaying of neighborhoods in the South Bronx for one. I mean if you think about it, jamming a six-lane expressway through some neighborhoods with the highest level of compactness known in NYC will definitely have major effects.




When I was kid my father would take my brother and I to camp upstate. We would have to take the Cross Bronx Expressway since it carried city traffic to Interstate 95. He would say, “You can take a straight ride on I-95 to the end of the world and back. This highway never ends”, he said. My mother however refused to drive any course that associated with the Cross Bronx Expressway. She informed us that she used to take the same ride with her mother when she was a kid. She divulged an anecdote that in all honesty sums up my article. “I came from camp one summer and for the duration of the trip I focused only on the ground. Without lifting my eyes once I could tell when we were in the city. This expressway was the epitome of urban decay”, she finished. When my mother would take us to camp she would literally go an hour out of her way just so she wouldn’t be subjected to the unfortunate scenery and the brutal traffic problem.

The controversy this expressway ensued continues till today. The local residents along with long-distance travelers have the unfortunate privilege to experience the horrific pavement issues which have yet to be remedied, the congestive traffic that continues to accumulate and not to mention the litter that still abounds this “engineering marvel.”