Road redesign along Sheridan aims to improve safety and access

A redesign along Sheridan Boulevard is meant to improve safety and access to the connector.

Photo courtesy NYC DOT

On Wednesday, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled changes along Sheridan Boulevard to improve safety and local access to the road.

The project is part of the $1.7 billion Hunts Points Access Improvement Project, a state effort that aims to improve access between the Hunts Point Peninsula and the Sheridan and Bruckner expressways, combatting a lack of access to the economic engine of The Hunts Point Terminal and reducing congestion that has riddled South Bronx residents with unhealthy environmental harms.

While the former Sheridan Expressway was physically transformed into a boulevard in 2019 — and the street sign even reads Sheridan Boulevard — the road still needs to undergo a formal renaming process, according to DOT.

“Opening up the Sheridan to local streets will help alleviate all of the existing traffic and congestion that Bronxites have been experiencing at the Whitlock exit,” said Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr. “This opening we are celebrating is of course all part of the $1.7 billion set aside for the conversion of the Hunts Point Expressway to the Hunts Point Boulevard. And while this is a great first start towards addressing the transportation issues that have long plagued the South Bronx, more work needs to be done, and I look forward to continued work with DOT and with (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis (Rodriguez) to accomplish just that.”

Prior to this redesign, vehicles traveling east from East 173rd Street could not access the Sheridan roadway and vehicles traveling north on Edgewater Road (a Sheridan service road) could not get to Crotona Park East by way of East 172nd Street.

But the new setup opens up barriers between West Farms Road and Sheridan Boulevard, connecting a six-block stretch that spans to Southern Boulevard. A new left turn at Edgewater Road allows vehicles to…