Traffi c snarls at Unionport Bridge expected to get worse
mately $50 million in funding
for green infrastructure
installations at CPI
sites throughout the city,
helping to reduce sewer
overfl ows that sometimes
occur during heavy rainfall,
improve air quality
and lower summertime
temperatures.
“We are always looking
for ways in which we
can reduce the stormwater
that enters our sewer
system and we were able
to do just that with this
project at Saw Mill Playground,”
stated DEP
Commissioner Vincent
Sapienza.
The playground’s reconstruction
commenced
on July 24, 2017 following
a groundbreaking ceremony.
Saw Mill Playground’s
namesake is derived
from the Saw Mill Creek,
also known as the ‘Mill
Brook,’ which once fl owed
near the park.
The creek originated
in Gates Place in the north
Bronx, ran along what is
now Brook and Webster
avenues and emptied into
the Bronx Kill.
Sawmills fl ourished
along many tributaries of
Bronx waterways for over
two centuries.
The earliest sawmill,
devised in 1352 in Europe,
depended on water
as a power source and a
means of transporting
goods.
Logs were fl oated
downriver to sawmills
which cut raw lumber
into standarized shapes
and sizes for building
purposes.
Another byproduct of
the sawing process was
wood pulp which is how
paper is made.
Due to the abundance
of lumber and waterpower
in the Hudson
River Valley, sawmills
became a popular and lucrative
industry for 17th
century European settlers.
In the 1850s, Jordan L.
Mott purchased 200 acres
of lower Morrisania and
named the area after
himself.
Parks acquired the
site for Saw Mill Playground
in October 1964.
Parks and the NYC
Department of Education
agreed to jointly operate
the playground.
Saw Mill Playground
was offi cially opened to
the public on October 11,
1974.
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Traffi c approaching the Unionport
Bridge isn’t likely to let up
anytime soon as its reconstruction
reaches a critical stage.
The project is now entering one
of the more complicated phases of
the bridge’s replacement, with temporary
crossings over Westchester
Creek just about completed, to allow
for the new bridge installation
to begin this fall.
Preliminary preparation work
for the temporary structures is already
underway.
The long anticipated work is
roughly two years into its fi ve-year
plan according to the project’s recalculated
timetable.
“The temporary bridge structures
are currently being assembled
and work is progressing,” said
Alana Morales, NYC Department of
Transportation spokeswoman. “We
anticipate traffi c to shift onto the
temporary structures this fall, and
will continue to coordinate with all
of our state and local agency partners.”
Vehicular capacity on the temporary
bridge structures will remain
the same as the current bridge, she
stated.
Nevertheless, traffi c backups
have remained heavy on the roads
approaching the bridge despite the
use of NYPD Traffi c Agents at peak
traffi c periods.
Some cautioned that more painful
travel for motorists is expected
as the project continues.
“It is coming into shape (the
Unionport Bridge),” said Matt Cruz,
Community Board 10 district manager.
“It is important for folks to be
mindful that summer brings delays
as more as people travel with their
families. So I anticipate that traffi c
around the Unionport Bridge will
worsen.”
That being said, Cruz added
that traffi c agents have been sent to
the Unionport Bridge approaches
and will continue to direct traffi c
throughout the remainder of the
project.
“The traffi c agents there are doing
a wonderful job, so we thank
the NYC (Department of Transportation),
NYPD and all stakeholders
for giving us the needed resources,”
said Cruz.
The Unionport Bridge straddles
CB 10 and CB 9.
CB 9’s district manager, William
Rivera, said that the top complaints
he is getting regarding the
project are about traffi c and the
potholes on the bridge approaches.
Rivera said that with the temporary
bridge structures about
to be opened on either side of the
existing bridge very soon, fi lling
in potholes on the bridge isn’t the
highest priority, and he added that
the NYPD Traffi c Agents, which
weren’t originally at the bridge
during rush hour, have been a big
help.
Nevertheless, Rivera said that
he and others take issue with the
length of the construction plan,
which was originally a four-year
plan and is now fi ve years.
“We understand that the bridge
needs to be replaced and we want to
deal with the traffi c, but fi ve years
is hard for me to comprehend,” said
Rivera, adding that while he isn’t
an engineer, his research of largescale
projects seems to indicate it
is taking a long time for this particular
project.
“The Empire State Building was
built in a year,” he said.
Bob Bieder, a Zerega activist,
said that with the planned construction
of a ‘last mile’ truck distribution
facility adjacent to the
bridge on Bruckner Boulevard, and
the growth in population in the borough
with its accompanying traffi c,
the reconstruction is necessary.
Nevertheless, Bieder said he has
avoided the bridge because of the
traffi c backups, preferring to use
the local detours.
www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY July 07, 2019 4
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MEMBER:
from Page 1
Despite the presence of hard-working traffi c agents around the roads connecting to the Unionport Bridge, its reconstruction
project has exacerbated the normally heavy traffi c. Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
Bronx Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa (r) pushes a girl on
a swing in the newly reopened Saw Mill Playground.
Photo by Daniel Avila/NYC Parks
$6.6 million renovated historic
Saw Mill Playground reopens
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