BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY June 2, 2019 12
Major construction is
complete on an $8.5 million
project to remove a notorious
traffi c bottleneck on the
northbound Bronx River
Parkway near Exit 9 at Gun
Hill Road. The project has enhanced
safety and improved
mobility on this heavily
traveled artery by converting
what had been the right
travel lane at this location
into an exit-only lane for Gun
Hill Road and constructing
a new travel lane in the left
median to maintain three
northbound travel lanes.
The end of the exit ramp approaching
the traffi c light at
Gun Hill Road has also been
re-striped to designate separate
lanes for left- and rightturning
vehicles.
“New York State is making
targeted investments in
the infrastructure of all fi ve
boroughs to ease traffi c and
improve safety for the traveling
public, and the Bronx is
a key benefi ciary of these investments,”
Governor Cuomo
said. “From our transformational
project converting the
Sheridan Expressway into a
neighborhood-friendly boulevard
to this project on the
Bronx River Parkway, we are
making this region an even
better place to live, work and
raise a family.”
With the completion
of this project, the Exit 9
ramp’s storage capacity has
increased to almost half a
mile, reducing congestion
and enabling traffi c to exit
the highway more effi ciently.
The project added new guiderails,
drainage structures
that fi lter rainwater before
it reaches the Bronx River,
signage, and lighting. The
northbound parkway within
the project limits, the exit
ramp for Gun Hill Road, and
a pedestrian walkway along
the ramp were also repaved.
Trees were planted adjacent
to the northbound parkway,
as well as along the Gun Hill
Road exit ramp.
“Under Governor Cuomo’s
leadership, New York
State is making critical investments
in infrastructure
that will improve our transportation
network and foster
economic growth in the
Bronx and throughout the
state,” NYS Department of
Transportation Acting Commissioner
Marie Therese
Dominguez said. “This project
has enhanced safety and
mobility by removing a traffi
c choke point on the Bronx
River Parkway that was the
source of frequent backups.”
“Residents of the Bronx
are no strangers to the congestion
on the Bronx River
Parkway,” said Assemblywoman
Nathalia Fernandez.
“Cars often end up bumperto
bumper and extends our
residents’ travel time. The
completion of this $8.5 million
project along the Gun
Hill Road exit will undoubtedly
alleviate that traffi c jam
and help our constituents.”
“This welcome improvement
of Bronx River Parkway
will make our borough safer
for drivers and more prosperous
for our residents,”
said Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. “Summer is an
excellent time to experience
the Bronx, and with reduced
road congestion, those who
are driving can hopefully
spend less time in traffi c.
We appreciate the governor’s
commitment to make
our borough more interconnected
and the roads safer
and more reliable.”
New Gun Hill Road exit from
BRP expected to free bottleneck
The project has removed a notorious bottleneck that had existed for decades on the northbound
Bronx River Parkway near Exit 9 at Gun Hill Road. Photo courtesy of NYSDOT
Soundview-based fi lmmaker premieres fl ic, ‘After Sandy’
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A new fi lm debuting on
the streaming video service
Netfl ix chronicles the lives
of Puerto Rican refugees
living in our borough after
Hurricane Maria.
‘After Maria’ follows the
lives of three Puerto Rican
families living in a motel
near Mosholu Parkway and
Webster Avenue after being
displaced from the island by
Hurricane Maria and coming
to New York to escape
the devestation.
It premiered on Netfl ix
on Thursday, May 24 and is
now available for streaming
to its subscribers.
The documentary is the
work of Soundview-based
fi lmmaker Nadia Hallgren,
who said she was motivated
to look at the issue in part
due to her own Puerto Rican
heritage, and because of her
relationship with her grandmother,
who migrated from
the island years ago.
It focuses on three women
who became friends while
living on the same fl oor of
a motel after leaving the island
because the response
from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency was insuffi
cient, said Hallgren.
“It is a story about these
mothers trying to cope in
this new environment and
the beautiful friendships
that they build,” said Hallgren.
The 36-minute original
Netfl ix movie was fi lmed
May through September
2018, and got a very positive
reaction at the Tribeca Film
Festival, where it was selected,
said its director.
“It tells the story of regular
people who meet after a
natural disaster,” said Hallgren.
She added it also explores
the ways in which many believe
FEMA didn’t offer the
same level of support to people
in the commonwealth of
Puerto Rico as it did to those
faced with similar natural
disasters in mainland U.S.
The director believes that
since Hurricane Katrina,
the federal government has
provided high levels of support
to victims of natural disasters,
except in the case of
Hurricane Maria, which primarily
affected Puerto Rico.
The fi lm highlights how
each of the families faced a
crisis after their FEMA assistance
for victims ran out,
and homelessness became
the only option for all three.
“They felt the real fear
that anyone would feel about
being homeless,” said Hallgren,
adding “it was incredibly
stressful for all of them.”
In many other states,
which don’t offer homeless
assistance, they wouldn’t
have had a roof over their
heads at all, said the fi lmmaker.
The families are also dealing
with a jarring change
in their lifestyles, much of
which is portrayed in ‘After
Maria.’
In Puerto Rico the women,
and in two of the families
their husbands as well, had
jobs and a home, as well as a
more stable home life.
The fi lm focuses on the
joy, strength, and resiliency
that these women showed in
terms of the serious adversity
that they face, said the
fi lmmaker.
“It was inspiring,” said
Hallgren of how the women
cope, adding how grateful
she was for the access the
women gave at a time when
they were very vulnerable.
Hallgren said that when
she completes a photography
project on ‘After Maria,’ she
plans to pursue a fi lm fellowship
in California.
Director Nadia Hallgren, a fi lmmaker
from Soundview, completed
photography on ‘After
Maria’ in September 2018.
Photo courtesy of Netfl ix
‘After Maria’, a Netfl ix original documentary that premieres on
Thursday, May 24, chronicles the lives of three families who
moved to the borough from Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
Photo courtesy of Netfl ix
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