A Walk Along the Hutchinson River Greenway

Chris Mojica
October 26, 2013 - 11AM-2PM

Poor sign "placement"

Being born and raised in the southeastern section of the Bronx, I know that this area (with the exception of Pelham Bay Park) has always lacked any form of cycling infrastructure.  The Hutchinson River Greenway is the sole exception to this area of the Bronx; the approximately 3 mile limited access spur traverses along the Hutchinson River Parkway from Pelham Parkway to Ferry Point Park, which fronts the East River and is directly between the Bronx approach of the Whitestone Bridge. It is a part of the East Coast Greenway, a trail route of over 3000 miles traversing along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.  The New York City Department of Transportation's 2013 Bicycle Map contains a detailed map of the Greenway path, illustrating both its local and regional connectivity.

One of the only fully protected portions of the Greenway
(for the most part)

Since I do not have a bike and the City's bike share program is not available in the Bronx, I decided to walk along approximately one-third of the Greenway.  Before I go into further detail of my survey, I just wanted to point out the sole cyclist that I observed in the three hours that I spent at the Greenway.  Now, some may say that the level of usage is much lower on the weekends but I believe this is a testament to the low usage of this Greenway.  This cyclist was not wearing a helmet.  There were no pedestrians observed along the route throughout the duration of my visit to the Greenway.

Cyclist exiting the Greenway at Ericson Place

My visit started at Ericson Place.  I went approximately half of a mile north and south of this location.  I tried to view this from the standpoint of both a pedestrian and cyclist.  Besides the Greenway sign being laid along the side of the path (see picture in the post of this blog post), the STOP sign at the Greenway crosswalk is too small, especially since this crossing is with an off-ramp of the Hutchinson River Parkway.  Additionally, there are no crosswalk markings to signify the presence of a crosswalk.

Northbound Approach to Ericson Place Greenway Crosswalk

Crosswalk at Ericson Place with pothole in the middle of the traveled way

Small STOP sign doesn't face the proper angle

I first headed south towards the Bruckner Expressway / Cross Bronx Expressway / Throgs Neck Expressway.  I noticed that the Greenway has shared space for both pedestrians and bicyclists.  However, the Greenway is missing some sort of signage to better alert pedestrians to the potential presence of cyclists and should have some sort of physical barrier to prevent any injuries to pedestrians and/or cyclists due to motor vehicles which lose control and veer onto the path from the off-ramp.

The Greenway trail is mostly clear with the exception of debris from trees which tend to cover the outer perimeter.  Some of the trees should also be pruned in order to prevent cyclists from riding into tree branches.

There were two other notable deficiencies that I found within this segment of the roadway - cracks in the concrete and potential flooding due to drainage from adjacent private property.  While small, the cracks observed in the concrete should be repaired as they can pose a hazard to both cyclists and pedestrians.  The drainage should be modified if possible to be diverted further away from the right-of-way since it can lead to ponding in this segment of the trail.

As I continued further south, I noticed another lack of protection between the Greenway right-of-way and the roadway right-of-way, except that this lack of protection is much worse since the Greenway runs directly adjacent to the northbound Hutchinson River Parkway.  A barrier should be erected in this location in order to ensure the safety of individuals whom utilize the Greenway.

I decided to turn around and head north of Ericson Place.  I decided to look towards the other approach to the crosswalk at Ericson Place and it is very hard to easily discern that you should be coming to a stop as you approach the crosswalk.

Now heading to the north, I noticed a lot more debris along the Greenway.  Additionally, the black fence separating the Greenway from the Hutchinson River Parkway is rather short (approximately 5 feet in height).  This fence should be raised to better protect cyclists, especially if one were to lose control and end up against the fence.

Additional signage should be placed here to alert cyclists to slow down due to the rather sharp curve.  I also noticed that this area was a bit more secluded than the rest of the Greenway and not as inviting as the rest of the Greenway.

Continuing north, the Greenway slopes down and continues at grade with the Hutchinson River Parkway as it continues under a high school and then another roadway.  There was a bit of leaves which covered portions of the Greenway in certain locations.  The striping varies along this section and is not continuous.  There appears to be no lighting along the underpass.

This was my favorite part of the survey.  As you continue north to cross under East Tremont Avenue, cyclists must dismount their bikes.  Under the bridge, the Greenway narrows to just about 5 feet wide (not enough to permit two pedestrians to easily pass side by side).  I liked the graffiti STOP sign that was written out on the foundation of the bridge.  Unlike the other underpass, there appears to be lighting at this location.  However, I spotted a nest for pigeons (and a lot of pigeon droppings).

We now reach the northernmost point of my survey, which is just south of Westchester Avenue (the overpass in the below picture).  At this location, the Greenway continues on local streets (crossing over the Hutchinson River Parkway) and rejoining the protected path north of Westchester Avenue along the southbound side of the parkway.  It should be noted that the on-street portions of the Greenway are not considered bike lanes (that is, cyclists must exercise caution when traversing these city streets).  

Again, I saw similar issues with the foliage blocking portions of the Greenway and a lack of consistent striping or reassuring signage to alert users of the Greenway to continue onward. 

Another potentially hazardous issue I spotted is the lack of a barrier between the Greenway and the parkway. The concrete barrier should be extended further north to provide more safety for the Greenway users.

I believe that the Greenway is an average facility for both pedestrians and cyclists.  However, the addition and modification of signage (especially at Greenway intersections with the roadway network) would go a long way for improving the overall experience for existing and future Greenway users.  The Greenway is a welcome addition to the southeastern Bronx but it would function better and attract more users if additional on-street bike lanes were added to this portion of the city.