As a subconsultant, SI Engineering P.C. (SIE) provided traffic signals system design, construction staging, and maintenance and protection of traffic (MPT) services for the reconstruction of Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The Grand Concourse is one of the Bronx’s busiest and most iconic roadways, running approximately five miles through the west Bronx, from East 138th Street to the Mosholu Parkway. As constructed, the street’s intersection geometries and roadway widths combined to create undesirable safety conditions for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers travelling this corridor. The fifth phase of the Reconstruction of the Grand Concourse extended the suite of capital improvements to this corridor further northward, from East Fordham Road to East 198th Street. The Phase 5 project area contained two Vision Zero Priority Corridors – the Concourse itself and East Kingsbridge Road – and exhibited a quantifiable need for safety improvements.
The Phase 5 project scope included resurfacing of the main line and extensive reconstruction of both the service roads and medians on Grand Concourse between East Fordham Road and East 198th Street. A series of raised, planted medians and other enhancements were implemented on the Concourse, including pedestrian safety islands on the main line, grade-separated bicycle facilities, stop-controlled slip lanes, bollards, and standard street lighting. Additional pedestrian safety infrastructure was constructed at select locations off the Concourse – on East Kingsbridge Road and Valentine Avenue – including curb extensions, new sidewalks, and pedestrian refuge islands. This package of improvements brings Grand Concourse to a state of good repair, addresses the corridor’s unsafe roadway conditions, reduces travel delays, and greatly improves livability for the residents of several neighborhoods adjacent to the project limits.
SIE developed traffic signal plans and MPT drawings and prepared cost estimates for proposed work on this project. The design included provisions for modification, removal, relocation, and installation of traffic signal facilities, as well as analysis, development, design, and integration of a specific and detailed MPT plan into the Composite Contract Documents.
