Community and transportation advocacy groups in New York are working hard these days to push the state Department of Transportation to tear down the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx

, according to a recent story in the New York Times.

The Sheridan, which connects the Cross Bronx Expressway with the Bruckner Expressway, is a key truck route to and from Hunts Point, and critics of the plan say it will just force truck traffic onto local roads.

The New York State Department of Transportation has been working on the Reconstruction of the Bruckner/Sheridan Expressway Interchange project for several years. The project aims to address the operational, geometric, and safety issues related to the bottleneck. It also hopes to address vehicle access to and from Hunts Point. The department held a stakeholders committee meeting this week to discuss the findings of a micro-simulation analysis of the project.

Several organizations, including the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Southern Bronx River Watershed, are working to put the tearing down of the expressway at the center of the state DOT's highway agenda.

The groups feel the road has little regional mobility purpose and doesn't carry much traffic. In addition, they say removing the Sheridan would ease traffic at the Cross Bronx interchage, a major bottleneck. They also feel eliminating the road would improve life for local residents.

The Pratt Center is working, as part of the Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance, to demolish the Sheridan Expressway and replace it with affordable housing, green open space, and other amenities, the group says. According to Pratt, removing the Sheridan would allow for over 1,200 units of new housing, 500,000 square feet of commercial, community and light industrial space.

But a report by the State Department of Transportation found that in simulations, removing the expressway would push traffic onto local streets, increasing congestion.

The state is studying three alternatives, according to the New York Times. One would remove it and create new ramps to improve access from the Bruckner to the Hunts Point market. Another would keep it and add new ramps. A third plan would leave the highway as it is. A final decision is expected in early 2012.

Updated 9:50 a.m. EDT 7/15/10 to include information on the state DOT's study.