The city’s transportation department is taking heat from advocates in Hunts Point, for a proposal to reroute trucks they say fails to take public input into account.
Out of nearly 1,817 comments submitted by the public on the DOT’s truck route feedback page as of July 23, only nine are from Hunts Point.
Responses have been even scarcer from the rest of Bronx community districts 1 and 2, with just one comment each from Port Morris and Mott Haven. South Bronxites have until July 31 to submit a comment on traffic issues to the DOT’s feedback page.
For a neighborhood with the second-highest amount of truck traffic in the city, that is unacceptable, said Dariella Rodriguez, director of community development at the Point CDC. Rodriguez said it’s an indication that the city is not doing enough to engage residents.
DOT says it wants to make commercial truck routes safer and more direct, in accordance with a local law passed last year, to alleviate traffic increases caused in part by fast rising e-commerce deliveries. It aims to connect primary freight origins and destinations, maximize access to industrial and commercial zones while making local streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
In April, the department created a portal with information about the redesign plans on its website, with space for the public to leave comments.
“Once again, there’s a process designed by regulatory institutions in our community that don’t make it accessible for our community,” said Rodriguez, adding that The Point found out about the ambitious plan only after happening onto the web page by chance.
The transportation department says it did its part by informing stakeholders such as community boards, the freight industry and local advocates of the redesign initiative, an agency spokesperson told the Express in an email.
“It’s very frustrating when these big important processes are happening, and they’re only happening online,” said Rodriguez. “They throw out a tool and just expect that whoever comments, those are going to be the comments that matter, and that’s it.”
Advocates say the DOT should also consider how close many truck routes are to schools. Around 60 percent of the city’s childcare and education centers are less than a half-mile away from a truck route, according to advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.
“We have so many New Yorkers, so many children, so many babies, constantly in these areas where there are trucks,” said Alexa Sledge, director of communications at Transportation Alternatives, in a phone interview.
The trucking fleets that serve the Food Distribution Market contribute to the South Bronx’s sky high asthma rates, the advocates add, saying that factor must also be taken into account.
“We can’t have communities where they’re constantly subject to truck after truck after truck,” said Sledge. “It’s really unsafe. It kills you quickly when a truck hits you, and it kills you slowly when constantly breathing all this dangerous air.”
The DOT points to Hunts Point Avenue as a priority, due to accidents caused by commercial trucks. Between 2019 and 2023, there were 10 injuries involving commercial trucks, DOT representatives said in a presentation to Community Board 2 last March.
One local resident, Jonathan Reyes said it’s common to see truck drivers struggling to turn corners, smashing into parked vehicles and creating accidents.
“I think that would stop the congestion,” Jonathan Reyes said, while enjoying the afternoon with a friend at Barretto Point Park. Reyes suggested altering the timetable for deliveries. If more deliveries were scheduled in the evenings, daytime traffic could be reduced, he said.
His coworker and fellow Hunts Point resident, who gave his name as Rich, said there should be more thorough training and certification for drivers.
“I feel like they’re hiring people who don’t really know how to drive,” he said. “It’s amateurs driving trucks, and they’re doing shit that regular truck drivers just don’t do.”
Although the DOT extended its original deadline for public feedback from late June to the current date, July 31, Rodriguez that still does not leave nearly enough time to get the word out. She said The Point has been pushing to inform the public at public events, such as the Bronx River Alliance’s City of Water Day, which took place at Concrete Plant Park on July 13.
The Point’s climate justice hub advocate Maria Reyes, who tabled that event, said no one she spoke with was aware of the DOT’s plans, but many said it’s about time and offered specific ideas when she told them about the plan.
Some suggested rerouting around East 180th Street, Reyes recalled, adding that residents have consistently voiced the need for safer streets. Overall, she said, safety for pedestrians and cyclists was the biggest concern, especially when trucks obstruct sidewalks illegally. Some recalled near-miss incidents involving trucks and vulnerable road users.
Others expressed concern over network connectivity for trucks, noting that trucks often veer off designated routes due to inadequate infrastructure.
The Point will collaborate with the Bronx River Alliance and SUNY Maritime College for an environmental stewardship event at Concrete Plant Park on July 27, at which they will publicize the rerouting plan. Other grassroots groups that have taken part so far in seeking public input include Brooklyn-based groups El Puente and Uprose.
Rodriguez said it is important for residents to take advantage of the opportunity to share their opinions.
“I’m concerned that there’s not going to be another process like this in a long time,” she said. “We need to make this time that we’re looking at truck routes meaningful and productive.”
About Post Author
