There were more jeers than cheers from northwest Bronx residents over the MTA’s proposed bus network redesign plan, calling out modifications they say can hurt not help their commuting experiencing at a town hall-style meeting.

Those feelings were backed by Community Board 7, which approved a motion calling on the MTA to modify its overhaul plan.

At the latest Community Board 7 general board meeting that doubled as a seemingly rushed town hall-style meeting on the proposed changes, where some service changes to buses that run through the northwest Bronx were glossed over (another meeting is scheduled for Dec. 5), MTA officials focused on modifications to the Bx28, Bx30, and Bx34, in which two of the buses run through Norwood.

Such a network setup has never been modified in the decades. In some cases, the routes are convoluted, which compelled the MTA to introduce a more streamlined bus system. Their findings were published in a final draft report that the agency said is still subject to change, depending on the input it gets from commuters.

For worried residents, especially the elderly, the proposed changes represent major inconveniences that include longer walks to rerouted stops. In some cases, it also involves boarding a new bus altogether.

Residents weren’t having it.

Jean Hill, a CB7 member and former chair, wasn’t too thrilled over changes to the Bx28 crosstown bus that cuts through Norwood and terminates at Co-Op City. Among the current stops is West Mosholu Parkway South and Jerome Avenue that abuts Tracey Towers, where Hill is among 3,000 residents living there. Under the plan, that stop will be discontinued.

“If you’re not going to go down Mosholu Parkway … how are you going to redesign that?” asked Hill.

Rashid Dolor, an MTA planner for the Bronx bus network redesign plan, responded by saying residents can take the Bx10.

“The Bx10 doesn’t go to Co-Op City, so explain that,” said Hill.

“You’ll transfer from the [Bx10] to the [Bx28],” said Dolor.

“Transfer from the [Bx10] to the [Bx28], where?” asked Hill.

Dolor’s suggestion would add another five minutes to a commuter’s ride since they’ll have to walk to get to the Bx10.

Lowell Green, another CB7 member, finds the rerouting of the Bx34 bus to be problematic for seniors living at Serviam Gardens in Bedford Park. MTA officials argued the street is too congestion resulting in slow travel times. Green, however, said the MTA should look at the congestion that begins at East Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood, well before the bus makes its way to Serviam Gardens.

“Double-parked cars, UPS trucks, ambulances, delivery trucks … [N]obody is making a move to get the Police Department out to enforce the flow of traffic, and if they don’t do it at a major place like that why do people on the [Bx34] get penalized with no absolutely no service at all?” said Green.

Green’s impassioned statement was enough for Dolor to emphasize the plan is still in the data-gathering stage.

The speed of such a meeting, roughly 45 minutes, left notifications on other bus routes running through the northwest Bronx to be ignored.

But Myrna Calderon, a CB7 member and shareholder of Fordham Hill Oval Corporation, raised concerns over the proposed Bx3 bus route that currently has a stop at the nine-building cooperative. She presented a petition filled with 350 signatures to officials urging the MTA to reconsider its proposed removal of the Bx3 bus, which begins at West 238th Street and Broadway and terminates at West 179th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

“We have a lot of seniors that rely on that bus. That is their sole means of transportation to get to the city, to doctors. We have people that rely on that bus to get to work every morning and back, and it’s really upsetting that they have to find out by a notice that is put at the bus stop. We have a community board. We have a transportation committee—was never brought to them until after you made these decisions,” said Calderon.

Calderon argued that ahead of congestion pricing, a measure that passed in the State Legislature that charges drivers a fee if they drive south of 59th Street in Manhattan while serving as a motive to use mass transit, it’s nonsensical to discontinue Bx3.

The MTA did issue a caveat: Bronx residents still have a chance to air their concerns.

With the changes not taking effect for another year following a litany of more scheduled meetings and town hall discussions scheduled for the upcoming year, residents can offer even greater input to the plan.

One suggestion was taking their complaints to its website to further explain why the bus plan doesn’t work.

The bus redesign plan would be implemented sometime in the latter part of 2020, aligning with the New York City Department of Transportation’s plans to tailor portions of the city’s roadways to streamline bus service.

Even after hearing the presentation, CB7 was still unhappy with changes, passing a motion to send a letter to the MTA asking for further modifications to the Bx34, BxM3 express bus, and BxM4 express bus service.

Editor’s Note: Visit https://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/app/comments_bronxbus to voice your position about the proposed changes. There is also a tool to map out your route by going to https://otp-mta-proto.camsys-apps.com/. Community Board 7’s Traffic & Transportation Committee plans to hold a larger meeting on the MTA’s bus network redesign plan on Dec. 5.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.