For this installment of the 5 Borough Highway Series, we head up to The Bronx for a view of the many expressway routes that take you all over the borough, which definitely has the most, along with Queens. I should have probably called this video “Bronx Traffic” since there’s plenty of it, but on the bright side, you get to see a lot of the structures and architecture at a slower speed, which is cool because there’s a lot of really interesting design work going on. The medieval looking big blocks of stone you see on arched overpasses and on side walls are my favorites. I’ve always liked how the Cross Bronx Expressway (aka I-95) is in like a ravine with high walls on each side going up to the neighborhoods. I remember many years ago there were lots of stripped, burnt out cars abandoned in the breakdown lanes. You don’t see that these days, but all those old structures still remain. What a task it must’ve been to construct it back in the late 1940’s. What's crazy about the Cross Bronx Expressway, is that construction of the highway required the demolition of thousands of apartments in hundreds of buildings in a seven mile swath across The Bronx. In all, over 60,000 were directly displaced by the construction of the Cross Bronx-the most of any single infrastructure project in American history. Again, the handiwork and conceptual design of Robert Moses.
Another interestingly designed highway is the Major Deegan (aka I-87) also built by Moses. The Major Deegan Expressway was named after Major William F. Deegan, an Army Corps of Engineers architect who served during World War I. Deegan, who later served as New York City Commissioner of Tenement Housing and as New York State Commander of the American Legion, died in 1932.
In 1935, New York City arterial coordinator Robert Moses began work on the initial section of the Major Deegan Expressway. This original 1.5-mile section, which connected the northern Triborough Bridge approach with Grand Concourse, was completed in April 1939, just in time for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. Like the current expressway configuration, the original configuration was six lanes, three in each direction. The Bruckner Expressway carries Interstate 278 and I-95 from the Triborough Bridge to the New England Expressway. Named for former Bronx Borough President and Congressman Henry Bruckner (1871-1942), who was born in the Bronx on June 17, 1871. Again, a project carried out by Robert Moses.
P.S. Be on the lookout for the brand new NYPD high-tech SUV featuring 360-degree cameras and flashy green racing-style stripes that appears at 31:52 That's one of the first ones out there. They will be launching the full fleet in 2024.
FEATURES:
0:00 Whitestone Bridge
2:28 Hutchinson Expy
12:44 I-95 South
15:40 Cross BX Expy
29:51 Major Deegan
31:52 New NYPD car
34:10 Bruckner Expy
40:33 I-95 North
43:14 IRT 6 Train
45:08 I-95 South
48:17 Bruckner Expy
51:20 Major Deegan
1:09:36 Saw Mill Expy
1:11:36 Route 9A