Historic American Engineering Record
Bronx River Parkway Reservation
HAER No. NY-327
Location
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation parallels the Bronx River for 15.5
miles from the New York Botanical Gardens north to Kensico Dam at Valhalla
in Westchester County. The parkway extends 12.5 miles in Westchester County
and 3 miles within New York City. Later parkway extensions connected north
to the Taconic State Parkway and southward through the Borough of the
Bronx in New York City.
Dates of Construction
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation was suggested as early as 1895 in
legislation creating the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission. The Bronx Parkway
Commission was appointed in 1906 but did not receive funding for parkway
acquisition until 1913. Despite the lack of public funds, planning began
in 1907. The parkway was completed in 1925.
Present Use
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation is a linear park that includes recreational
facilities, preserved and restored natural areas, and a road that is restricted
to private passenger vehicles. The main parkway drive is a heavily used
commuter route that connects suburban Westchester County to New York City.
Design
The Bronx Parkway Commission (BPC) designed and supervised construction
of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation. The longest-serving commissioners
were Madison Grant, James Cannon, William Niles, and Frank Bethell. Warren
Thayer was the project’s initial engineer. Consulting Landscape
Architect Hermann W. Merkel was primarily responsible for landscape design
and development. BPC Engineers Jay Downer, Leslie Holleran, and Gilmore
Clarke supervised general construction. Engineer Arthur G. Hayden developed
the rigid-frame bridge technology used for many grade separations. Private
architects, including Charles Stoughton, worked with BPC engineers to
provide architectural details for many bridges and grade separations.
Owners
Westchester County, New York City
Significance
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation was the first public parkway designed
explicitly for automobile use. The project began as an environmental restoration
and park development initiative that aimed to transform the heavily polluted
Bronx River into an attractive linear park connecting New York City’s
Bronx Park with New York City’s Kensico Dam and reservoir. With
the addition of a parkway drive the project became a pioneering example
of modern motorway development. It combined beauty, safety, and efficiency
by reducing the number of dangerous intersections, limiting access from
surrounding streets and businesses, and surrounding motorists in a broad
swath of landscaped greenery.
Project Information
Documentation of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation was conducted in
2001 by the Historic American Building Survey/ Historic American Engineering
Record (HABS/HAER), E. Blaine Cliver, Chief, a division of the National
Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the Interior. The project was funded
by Westchester County, Andrew J. Spano, County Executive, and administered
by the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation:
Joseph Stout, Commissioner; Dr. Jack Robbins, Deputy Commissioner of Conservation;
David DeLucia, Director of Park Facilities. The Department of Information
Technology, Norman Jacknis, Chief Information Officer; The Westchester
County Records and Archives Center, Patricia N. Dohrenwend, Director;
the Westchester County Department of Planning, Joyce Lannert, Commissioner;
and the Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy, Betsy Dolan, Executive
Director; Lowell Tooley, President, provided additional support.
The summer 2001 documentation team worked under the direction of Christopher
Marston, HAER Project Leader, and Tim Davis, HAER Historian. The field
team consisted of field supervisor and landscape architect Tanya Folger,
architects Brandon Andow (Rhode Island School of Design) and Kamalahasan
Ramaswamy (US/ICOMOS, India), landscape architect Karolina Buczek (US/ICOMOS,
Poland), and historian Dawn Duensing. Large-format photography was produced
by David Haas. |
