Parkchester and the northwest Bronx have the worst streets in the Bronx, according to a study just released by the NYC Independent Budget Office.
Parkchester earned the lowest rating in the borough, 30.31 percent, meaning just over 30 percent of the roads were considered to be in good shape by the NYC Department of Transportation as of the end of 2015.
Other areas with streets earning a score below 60 percent were Mount Hope (59 percent), Kingsbridge Heights (58.74 percent), University Heights-Morris Heights (55.1 percent), Soundview-Bruckner (55.01 percent), Spuyten Duyvil-Kingsbridge (49.54 percent) and Riverdale-Fieldston (38.71 percent).
The IBO is a tax-funded organization that is independent of the mayor’s office.
The northwest Bronx’s Councilman Andrew Cohen and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz also called for the DOT to step up its road repair schedule.
“While I understand that the Department of Transportation has a limited budget to repave and maintain roads, it is unacceptable that these neighborhoods are rated so poorly,” stated Cohen. “Riverdale and Kingsbridge neighborhoods must be given prioritization once DOT commences the repaving process this spring.”
“Our roads are like a war zone,” added Dinowitz. “Drivers in Riverdale and surrounding neighborhoods should not have to spend their entire commute dodging potholes and cracks in the road. This creates urgent safety concerns and causes untold costs to the city and its residents. The DOT needs to step up and make improvements to our streets before they do any more damage.”
The assemblyman, who was recently named chair of a committee tasked with oversight of the MTA, also voiced concern over possible damage to the city’s bus fleet and that poor road conditions would cost the city money due to tort claims by motorists who experience damage to their cars.
Councilman Fernando Cabrera chose to see the positive in the report – that 70 percent of Bronx streets were in good condition.
“As progress continues in the Bronx, I will be working with DOT to advance transportation infrastructure in our neighborhoods,” Cabrera said.
Citywide, just over 70 percent of streets are in good condition, while 29 percent are fair and 0.6 percent are in poor condition, according to the report.
Street conditions have trended downwards since 2012, according to the Mayor’s Management Report.
The best roads in the borough, according to the report, can be found in the Williamsbridge-Olinville area, where 81.46 percent of roads are good, followed by Allerton-Pelham Gardens (80.7 percent) and Fordham South (80.25 percent).
The report was put together after the Mayor’s Management Report in September stated street qualities have deteriorated in the past three years, said Giovanella Quintanilla, the person who put together the report. She stressed that the report includes 2014 and 2015 data, but does not include 2016 figures.
“The DOT said they have already paved some of those roads,” she said.
DOT officials said progress had been made since 2015.
“This fiscal year we’ve repaved 110 lane miles so far in the borough,” a DOT spokesperson said. “This is crucial for the borough street resurfacing is a comprehensive treatment that addresses a host of issues, including reducing the amount of potholes that can form on city streets.”
The DOT resurfaced nearly 167 lane miles in the Bronx in 2016, and 159 lane miles in the last fiscal year.
That roadwork in recent years had led to major improvements on some major Bronx thoroughfares, including Grand Concourse and East Tremont Avenue, they added.
