Bronx Community Board 5 Committee Endorses Grand Concourse Redesign Up to Fordham Road

DOT’s plan for raised bike lanes on the Grand Concourse between 175th Street and Fordham Road picked up the support of Bronx Community Board 5’s municipal services committee last night. The full board will vote on the project on February 28.

The Grand Concourse is a major transit corridor and north-south connection for some of the city’s densest neighborhoods, but its wide car lanes, long pedestrian crossings, and high-speed slip lanes make it one of New York’s most dangerous streets.

CB 5 was voting on the fourth phase of DOT’s Grand Concourse redesign. As in phases two and three, the DOT project will shift the bike lanes on the Concourse’s service roads from the curb to the median, raising them above the grade of car traffic lanes [PDF].

There is no low-cost, quick-build version of the project, however, so residents won’t reap the safety benefits until capital construction wraps up in 2022 (at the earliest).

While earlier phases of the redesign have made a noticeable difference, members of the neighborhood coalition advocating for a safer Concourse have expressed frustration at the pace of change and the lack of additional improvements like bus lanes.

The February 28 meeting starts at 5 p.m. at Davidson Community Center, located at 2038 Davidson Avenue.