The East 233rd Street crossing proved to be a major design and construction challenge. The 1,600' connecting link of the parkway drive began several hundred feet north of the Woodlawn Station, passed over the Bronx River and beneath a major road and the New York Central Railroad tracks, maintaining minimum gradients all the way. An existing railroad tunnel also complicated the design. The WCPC’s James Owen stated that when the parkway was first planned, this area posed the greatest challenges of any stretch of road. The project to complete the missing link included: grading, paving, and draining the roadway; building reinforced concrete arch bridges over the Bronx River and under East 233rd Street; constructing a deck-plate-girder railroad bridge over the new roadway; widening and changing the river channel; building a pump house to drain the underpass; constructing signals to warn traffic in the case of a flooded road; lighting; and landscaping. Since the railroad tracks could be raised only a limited amount, it was impossible to use a flat-arch bridge to separate the tracks from the road. Instead, a plate-girder bridge was designed with stone masonry and ornamental iron railings. The bridge over the Bronx River was a stone-faced, reinforced-concrete arch span of 61'. The bridge over the drive at East 233rd Street was a 40' span of similar construction and built on a skew angle. Berms were built adjacent to the roadway to prevent the river from flooding the drive. Super-elevation, or banking, was used on all curves. Lane markers were added also added, and a concrete divider was installed in the center of the drive.(288)

Although the NYC-BEA appropriated $750,000 for the East 233rd Street project in 1927, the project was not completed until 1933 because the railroad company refused to pay its part of the cost. The dispute was resolved by the courts, which ordered the railroad company to pay its share. The BPC’s original plans for the East 233rd Street reconstruction were used as the basis for the project, with the planning, final design, and construction completed by Bronx engineers. The engineering and construction for the railroad bridge was done under the supervision of the New York Central Railroad Company.(289)

(288)Sheridan, "Bronx River Parkway Drive Completed," 676-678; "Bridge at End of Parkway to Aid Motorists," White Plains Daily Reporter, January 27, 1928.
(289)"‘Missing Link’ in Bronx River Parkway Is Likely To Be Completed During Next Year," newspaper clipping, no date or name noted; "A Needed Underpass," Daily Argus, June 2, 1933, Sheridan, "Bronx River Parkway Drive Completed," 680; "Bridge at End of Parkway to Aid Motorists," White Plains Daily Reporter, January 27, 1928.