The good news: the triple cantilever portion of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights is finally being renovated. The not-as-great news: construction on the dilapidated portion of the road will not start until 2029.
Last week, the Department of Transportation released a new plan to tackle the issues that the 1.5-mile stretch of the BQE between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street has been dealing with for year. This is the fourth proposal that the city has released and considered.
Gothamist reports that DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said that “he’s still not sure if the city will move forward with the latest pitch or choose another one the department presented in the past.”
This latest proposal seeks to fix the problematic section of the expressway through a revamped “stacked” design, which is actually not very different from how the area is currently set up.
“The new layout […] would tuck the Staten Island-bound lanes directly below the Queens-bound ones, where the existing Staten Island-bound lanes jut out slightly,” reports the Brooklyn Paper. “In the new proposal, a skeletal wall would fence in the Staten-Island bound lanes, blocking them from view from street level.”
It’s important to note that, even if this particular design gets the green light, it would take the federal government five years to approve it and construction to begin. According to officials, the endeavor will also cost around $5 billion.
There are still many unknowns: will the eventual construction completely disrupt traffic? What layout will officials choose? What are the sorts of factors to keep in mind? Is the expressway still in danger of failing in the next few years?
Overall, local tensions are running high following last-minute changes to the proposed congestion pricing program in NYC. Although years in the making, the initiative was shockingly put on pause before implementation by Governor Kathy Hochul a few weeks ago, to the consternation of many city officials.
Hopefully, folks in power will be able to get it together for this particular project, which has been years in the making and seems to be of utmost importance when it comes to the safety of New York drivers.
