The Department of City Planning has announced a series of “walkshops” that seek to tackle negative impacts of the Cross Bronx Expressway while promoting health and well-being. The public walking tours are a collaboration between the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) as part of the community-driven study to reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway. 

“For too long, the Cross Bronx Expressway has been a destructive divider of communities,” said DCP Director and City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick in a press release statement. “These walkshops will give New Yorkers an opportunity to witness and speak to the on-the-ground conditions and harmful impacts the Cross Bronx Expressway has on those who live and work nearby.”

Walkshops will take place on Saturdays at 10 am throughout September and October, with each of them lasting around one-and-a-half hours and led by city agencies, community organizations, and elected officials. Covering multiple neighborhoods, the tours will examine conditions in the west, central, and east portions of the expressway. 

The schedule is as follows and RSVPs are required for each of these events:

  • Sept. 9: Walkshop will start at Bridge Playground and end where the expressway meets Jerome Avenue. Taking place in the west Bronx neighborhoods of Morris Heights, Highbridge, Mt. Eden, this tour will walk by playgrounds and bridges along the corridor. 
  • Sept. 23: Walkshop will start at Prospect Playground and end at Webster Avenue, providing an opportunity to walk over a covered portion and under an elevated portion of the expressway. This tour will cover the central Bronx neighborhoods of Crotona and Claremont. 
  • Oct. 7: Walkshop will start at Hugh J. Grant Circle and end at Devoe Avenue. Taking place in the east Bronx neighborhoods of Parkchester and Unionport, this tour will walk near the Bronx River intersection and Noble Playground. 

The outreach series will conclude with three simultaneous events on Oct. 14, including a bicycle tour that starts at the intersection of University Avenue and Ogden Avenue by Bridge Playground; a Spanish-language tour starting at the intersection of E 174th Street and Webster Avenue; and an event for those with limited mobility at Prospect Playground.