Eyes on the Street: State DOT Squeezes Van Cortlandt Park Greenway

The walls are closing in on people who walk or bike on the Van Cortlandt Park greenway in the Bronx. A state Department of Transportation highway construction project has narrowed the shared bicycle and pedestrian path to just four feet, while leaving adjacent car lanes and a golf cart path almost entirely untouched.

The cause of the greenway pinch point is the $27.8 million reconstruction of the Major Deegan Expressway bridge above Mosholu Parkway, which began in May 2014 and isn’t expected to be complete until spring 2017, according to state DOT [PDF].

The golf cart path adjacent to the greenway was narrowed slightly, but remains wide enough to accommodate larger maintenance vehicles, state DOT says. The greenway path, however, narrows immediately after southbound cyclists descend a curved incline. The space that used to be for biking is now a staging area for construction vehicles.

“Temporarily reducing the widths and alignments of both the golf path and pedestrian walkway is necessary to safely reconstruct the south bridge abutment,” said state DOT spokesperson Diane Park. “Throughout the three-year project, access to the pedestrian walkway will be maintained.”

In addition to rebuilding the Major Deegan bridge, the project will replace a decrepit stairway leading from the greenway to a path on the bridge connecting to other trails in Van Cortlandt Park. State DOT will build an ADA-accessible ramp in its place. The 13-foot wide shared bicycle and pedestrian path next to Mosholu Parkway will also be rebuilt.

Until construction is done in 2017, however, greenway users will be crammed into a path just four feet wide — unless state DOT can be convinced to spare some space for people who walk and bike.