Sheridan Expressway

1.4 miles

The Sheridan Expressway is named for Arthur V. Sheridan (1988-1952), Bronx Borough Commissioner of Public Works (1942-1952) under Borough President James Lyons and supportive colleague of Arterial Coordinator Robert Moses (1888-1981). In his lifetime, Sheridan served as president of both the New York Society of Professional Engineers (1928-1930) and the National Society of Professional Engineers (1937-1938).

A native New Yorker, Sheridan attended the City University of New York, and studied engineering at Columbia University, going on to work on federal engineering projects. His achievements earned him presidential commendations from both Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Borough President Lyons named Sheridan Chief Engineer of the Bronx in 1934, and he served in that capacity until 1942, when Lyons appointed him Borough Commissioner of Public Works.

In addition to his public service career, Sheridan edited The American Engineer for 15 years, lectured at Yale, and taught engineering at New York University and Manhattan College. He was an author as well, publishing three books: Whither Engineering EducationΑ, Three Centuries in the Bronx, and Traffic in the Bronx. Outside of the engineering field, Sheridan lectured on history and philosophy, served as president of the Bronx Rotary Club, and belonged to both the American Legion and the New York Athletic Club. During World War I, Sheridan served in the American Expeditionary Forces, and as a military consultant during World War II. On June 20, 1952, less than two weeks before his retirement from the post of Commissioner, Sheridan died in a car accident on his way to pick up his eleven-year-old son.

Construction began on the Sheridan Expressway in 1958. Arterial Coordinator Robert Moses built the road, which connects the Bruckner and Cross Bronx Expressways, in order to provide a route for commercial vehicles, which cannot travel on the Bronx River Parkway. The Sheridan Expressway is 1.4 miles long, with 12-foot wide lanes in either direction. When the expressway was first constructed, there were plans to extend it northward. Concrete piles were built for a ramp, but they were removed when the plan was scrapped in the early 1990s. An estimated forty-five thousand vehicles travel on the Sheridan Expressway each day.

Thursday, Dec 06, 2001