Note: You can read the village's "One Square Mile" newsletter here.

By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Feb. 4, 2025: Below is an update on a number of important initiatives in the Village.

Drainage Initiatives

We met with our peers in Mount Vernon government to review our plans for catch basin installations and pipe repairs which will take place entirely within the boundaries of the Village.

After a thorough review, our colleagues in Mount Vernon are comfortable with our plans. We welcome this collaboration as we work together to mitigate drainage issues in both our communities.

Facilitate Walkability with "Road Diets"

As one resident said to me recently, while smiling, “Mayor, what roads are you ripping up next?” as construction abounds in central Bronxville.

The genesis for all the work was resident responses to our most recent Comprehensive Plan where we asked you how to improve our village. As is custom for this Village, we received an unparalleled response rate and the resounding desire was not to add or subtract many things, rather maintain and improve what we have with emphasis on further improving the walkability which is a hallmark of our Village.

To that end, we brought in all levels of professionals, including traffic engineers, to assess where improvements could be made with a focus on our busiest streets.

After a great deal of study, we agreed to facilitate walkability with what are called “road diets” – a transportation strategy aimed at improving the safety, efficiency and livability of our streets. It involves reducing the square footage of vehicle lanes and adding amenities including wider sidewalks and enhanced pedestrian crossings. The goal is to be equitable in how we use our streets; encouraging walking while also making it safer for drivers to navigate as a road diet helps slows traffic through the use of median islands and calming features, ultimately promoting healthier and greener alternative ways of getting around and improving our community's quality of life.

In planning for road diets, we looked at vehicle volume, average speed, bicycle and pedestrian use and future land use with the goal of reducing travel speeds, conflict points and creating shorter crossing distances for pedestrians and bicycles, resulting in better accommodation for all road users. The strategy will result in high value improvements at a relatively low cost. Statistics show that the kind of work we are doing results in an accident reduction rate of 19 to 47%.

European cities are the time-tested example of road diets with a more equitable ratio of sidewalk to paved auto lanes.

Plantings on Pedestrian Islands 

An added benefit of the resulting areas of refuge or pedestrian islands is taking impervious surface and making it porous so we can plant unobtrusive trees, bushes and flowers which not only add to the aesthetic of the Village but are also great absorbers of heat, carbon dioxide and particulate pollutants.

The work on the east side is almost complete save for the landscaping and striping which will happen in the spring.

Our construction company has moved to the west side to improve the safety and walkability of the environs surrounding the traffic circle as our engineers saw great need for reconfiguration in this area and I know many of you who live nearby or who travel that route can attest to the loud honking and near misses as everyone tries to merge to get to their destinations.

Village Finances

The Village auditors O’Connor Davies completed their audit of the 2023-2024 fiscal year reaffirming our Aaa bond rating, one of only three villages in Westchester County, (along with Scarsdale and Larchmont), to maintain the highest rating afforded to a municipality.

We also increased our fund balance by an additional $750,000 to just over $10 million or 50% of the 2023-2024 annual budget.

At the final Trustees’ meeting of last year, the Village Board adopted a fund balance policy memorializing a minimum amount the Village will always try to exceed as well as assigning monies for future capital projects, future pension and health insurance liabilities and tax stabilization reserve. Our new policies can be found on the Village website.

FEMA

We continue to coordinate with FEMA for the reimbursement of infrastructure damages along Paxton Avenue and Maltby Park incurred from the September 2023 flooding event. 

FEMA has also preliminarily approved our mitigation plans for this area to reduce flooding along this corridor. 

Simultaneously, we are working with our neighboring communities and New York State in evaluating the recommendations of the consultant retained by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to study the entire Bronx River corridor from Greenburgh to Mount Vernon.

Frustration with the Condition of State-owned Road Route 22

So many of you have complained and rightly so about the condition of Route 22. Very unfortunately for us, it is a state-owned road, and we are not allowed to make any repairs however curative to their system.

We have documented the deplorable condition which is less than a mile or around 4700 ft. in Bronxville. We have been recently told that this route is currently not on the paving schedule within the existing five-year plan, but the regional DOT will “maintain it”.

Unfortunately, they fill the potholes with a material that almost immediately detaches from the surface into granular shreds that head to catch basins all over the neighborhood and clog our water passages. So not only is the road in disrepair, but cost is added to the Village as we often have to clean drains of asphalt debris.

As far as the status of crosswalk improvements at Pondfield Road and Route 22, if you can believe it, I have found notes going back to 2015 when we petitioned the State DOT to get on their schedule.

The construction phase of this project is expected to begin in summer 25 and completed in winter 26/27, yes, 10 full years after our initial request. The project is currently part of a PSAP (Pedestrian Safety Action Plan) contract that involves 21 locations in Westchester County. Given the unacceptable length of time we have been in the queue, we have asked to be a priority on the list of 21 though no one will promise us anything.

The level of frustration at Village Hall on these two projects is so high, we have contemplated putting signs up letting folks know that the state of the road is brought to you by the State of New York. I think it only rivals our frustration with the Metro-North underpass!

As spring approaches projects can resume at full tilt. As a result, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with ideas for paving improvement, tree planning, etc., as you serve as our eyes and ears in all corners of the village.