Cross Bronx Expressway

The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins at the eastern approach to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River. While I-95 leaves at the Bruckner Interchange in Throgs Neck, following the Bruckner Expressway and New England Thruway to Connecticut, the Cross Bronx Expressway continues east, carrying I-295 to the merge with the Throgs Neck Expressway near the Throgs Neck Bridge. Though the road goes primarily northwest-to-southeast, the nominal directions of all route numbers west of the Bruckner Interchange are aligned with the northbound route number going southeast, and the southbound route number going northwest.

The Cross Bronx Expressway was conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It was the first highway built through a crowded urban environment in the United States; the most expensive mile of road ever built to that point is part of the Cross Bronx, costing $40 million (equivalent to $469,515,528 in 2024). At one point during construction, Moses' crews had to support the Grand Concourse (a major surface thoroughfare), a subway line and several elevated train lines while the expressway was laboriously pushed through. The highway experiences severe traffic problems, and its construction has been blamed for negatively affecting a number of low-income neighborhoods in the South Bronx. Most Bronxites consider the Cross Bronx Expressway the defining border between the North and the South Bronx.

The Cross Bronx Expressway begins at the eastern end of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, officially designated as both I-95 and US 1. Immediately after coming off the bridge, there is an interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) for Yankee Stadium and points upstate. The highway soon intersects with Webster Avenue at a partial interchange allowing eastbound vehicles to exit and westbound ones to enter. Northbound US 1 leaves the Cross Bronx Expressway at this exit. About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later, the expressway has a pair of closely spaced interchanges for NY 895 (Sheridan Boulevard) and the Bronx River Parkway. The exit for Sheridan Boulevard is an incomplete interchange and allows access from northbound and to southbound I-95 only.

The Cross Bronx Expressway reaches the Bruckner Interchange 2 miles (3.2 km) later. The service road is called East 177th Street between the Bronx River Parkway and the Bruckner Interchange. Going eastbound (I-95 northbound), the interchange allows access to southbound I-678, northbound I-95 (Bruckner Expressway) and southbound I-295. I-95 leaves the Cross Bronx Expressway here and continues north along the Bruckner Expressway. The Cross Bronx Expressway continues east of the interchange as I-295, which begins here. The Cross Bronx connects with the Throgs Neck Expressway, where traffic from I-695 merges on before the expressway ends at the northern approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge.

The 1929 Report on Highway Traffic Conditions and Proposed Traffic Relief Measures for the City of New York was the first citywide traffic study, classifying a number of projects that had been proposed by local interests. A "Cross-Bronx Route" along 161st and 163rd Streets was one of two proposed facilities, along with the "Nassau Boulevard" (which became the Long Island Expressway), picked by borough engineers as examples of important projects. Although this routing was south of the present Cross Bronx Expressway, the report did suggest a "New Cross-Bronx Artery" near the present expressway that would link the Washington Bridge with the Clason Point Ferry to Queens. Though it would not be built to freeway standards, it would be 60 feet (18 m) wide with grade separations "where considered necessary and desirable." The George Washington Bridge, then under construction, was cited among reasons to build the highway which would help connect New Jersey to Long Island via the bridges and ferry.

In 1936, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) proposed a highway that would connect the Bronx to New England and points north. In late 1940, the New York City Planning Commission adopted a plan for a network of highways. Except for the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, which lay to the north, no cross-Bronx highway had been built up to this point. The report stated that the "Bronx Crosstown Highway", which would now connect on the east end to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (which had replaced the Clason Point Ferry), was "an essential part of a desirable highway pattern", taking traffic from the George Washington Bridge to Long Island and New England. The cost was estimated at $17 million, higher than most improvements because of the "topographical conditions, high land values, and heavily built-up areas".

In the 1940s, city planner Robert Moses proposed the construction of a system of highways that would traverse the New York City area. The plan was to cost $800 million (equivalent to $14 billion in 2024), and, in February 1945, the city agreed to pay $60 million (equivalent to $826 million in 2024) of that cost. That November, the city, state, and federal governments agreed to fund several new highways in New York City. Among these was the Cross Bronx Expressway, which was to cost $38.67 million. The expressway was to continue onto the 181st Street Bridge at its western end, connecting with the 178th–179th Street Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge via a set of ramps. At its eastern end, the expressway would connect with the Hutchinson River Parkway and New England Thruway at the Bruckner Interchange.

The New York City Board of Estimate approved a contract in February 1946, allowing the Tenant Relocation Bureau to relocate 540 families who lived on the expressway's right-of-way. The New York City Council adopted a resolution the next month, asking the Board of Estimate to delay the relocations, which were scheduled to start that June. City officials said that only 55 families would be relocated in 1946 and that all existing residents would be relocated before construction started. By late 1947, the city and state governments were relocating residents in the expressway's path. The city and state started soliciting bids for construction contracts that December. Although the city and state planned to demolish 164 structures on the expressway's right-of-way, they were reluctant to raze all of the structures immediately because of a housing shortage in New York City. The city government was able to obtain this land through the eminent domain process.