Bx. highway to become boulevard

The Bronx’s Sheridan Expressway will be turned into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard with the feds’ blessing, Gov. Cuomo said Wednesday.

Cuomo, announcing the $75 million project last year, called the Sheridan Expressway a “mistake” from Robert Moses’ reign that runs along the Bronx River, cutting people off from the waterfront and Starlight Park.

The federal government has approved turning the interstate into a local street.

“This project will finally right the wrongs of the past by reconnecting these Bronx communities that have struggled with unnecessary obstacles to revitalization and growth,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Converting the Sheridan Expressway into a neighborhood-friendly boulevard will not only improve the quality of life for deserving

Bronx residents, it will also promote economic growth in the region for decades to come.”

With the expressway losing its status as an interstate, the state Department of Transportation can transform it into a boulevard that’ll put pedestrian and cyclist crossings at Jennings St., E. 172nd St. and E. 173rd St. that now end at the expressway.

Construction is set to begin on the week of Sept. 23 on West Farms Road, which run adjacent to the Sheridan, authorities said. The transformation will be complete by the end of 2019, and is being paid for by federal and state funds, according to DOT officials. The money is covered in the state DOT’s budget.