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Interchange Index
Overview: The Bronx River Parkway (unmarked NY 907H) runs from north to south. Immediately east of the parkway is its namesake, the Bronx River. The Cross County Parkway (unmarked NY 907K) runs east-west through the interchange. Broad St., a local street, runs just to the south of the Cross Couty Parkway. The street just west of the Bronx River Parkway is Midland Ave. north of the interchange, and Bronx River Rd. south of the interchange. This exit is numbered as exit 11 from the Bronx River Parkway, and exit 6 from the Cross County Parkway. Just to the east is Exit 7 of the Cross County Parkway, which is a simple pair of ramps from Broad St. to the eastbound parkway.
History: This interchange's history is really the reason for its unusual layout. The Bronx River Parkway predates the Cross County Parkway by quite a few years. When the Bronx River Parkway was built, its right-of-way consisted of a small strip of parkland which already contained the Bronx River itself. Here, the parkway stuck to the eastern side of its right-of-way, along with the Bronx River. After the Bronx River Parkway was built, the area around it became very built up. When the need for the Cross County Parkway was realized, the task of connecting it to the Bronx River Parkway was not easy. A 1966 Texaco map of New York City shows the original result, which was a badly built double-trumpet-esque interchange with lots of weaving. It was later reconstructed into the current setup.
Interchange Description: This interchange could be classified as a very modified cloverleaf. In this case, ramps were placed in unusual locations because of space constraints instead of traffic patterns. The ramps to and from the Cross County's westbound lanes are fairly typical. The westbound exit ramp is semi-directional (both ramps exit at once, then split). At the point where they split is a terribly confusing "Big Green Sign" - maybe I'll get a picture of it next time I'm there. Note that the northbound on-ramp doesn't enter the Bronx River Parkway immediately, but goes around the northbound off-ramp before entering. The westbound on-ramps are built in much the same fashion; a cloverleaf and a standard right-turn ramp, along with a ramp from Midland Ave., merge together before joining the parkway. Another ramp, which comes from Midland Ave., joins these at the point where they merge. (Note that they actually join a westbound collector/distributor road rather than the actual mainline. This collector/distributor road doesn't join the parkway until between Exits 3 and 4, about 1.2 miles west.) The ramps to and from the Cross County Parkway's eastbound lanes are also semi-directional, but built much differently. These ramps form a standard trumpet interchange with the Bronx River Parkway. The turns where these ramps join the parkway are very tight, and definitely not up to Interstate standards. The turn on the southbound-to-eastbound ramp is also very tight.
On a more general note, notice how most of the ramps in the interchange are predominantly north-south; even the cloverleaf loops are longer north-south than east-west. This is also the case in the older design mentioned above. The reason for this is simple: The Bronx River, at this point, runs in a narrow and steep-sided valley. The Bronx River Parkway runs along the floor of this valley, while the Cross County passes over at the level of the surrounding land. For the ramps to traverse the sides of this valley without becoming excessively steep, they had to run predominantly north-south. Also, the large grade seperation between the two parkways makes some ramps possible that otherwise wouldn't be: for example, the WB to SB ramp passes over the BRP and almost immediately under the CCP. (Thanks to an m.t.r post by Russell Blau for this information.)
Advantages: Given the circumstances under which it was built, this interchange isn't all that bad. It is almost entirely contained within the small right-of-way of the Bronx River Parkway. It also has a fairly limited amount of weaving - the only weave is between traffic on the eastbound-to-northbound ramp and the northbound-to-westbound ramp.
Disadvantages: This interchange was built quite a long time ago - this is obvious from driving through it. It is at the intersection of two parkways, neither of which is or ever will be up to interstate standards. Tight turns abound, especially on the ramps to the Cross County Parkway's eastbound lanes. Many of the bridges are lower than usually found; trucks are not allowed on either of these parkways, so this is not a huge problem. This interchange is okay for its present use; if it was ever used at the intersection of two bona fide interstates, it would have to be expanded both on the ground and vertically to avoid tight turns and low clearances.
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