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City pumps brakes on plan to add third lane to BQE in Brooklyn Heights
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Feb 24, 2023
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Courtesy Mayor Adams' office
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Feb 24, 2023
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The city said on Friday that it will reconsider controversial plans to add a third lane to a crumbling section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
The Department of Transportation announced on Friday that it’s re-examining the number of lanes it might build as part of upgrades and repairs to the triple cantilever section of the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. As a result, the timeline for the project will be pushed back, and an environmental review originally scheduled for this spring will instead begin in the fall.
“We are committed to environmental justice, public health, and reducing the harmful effects of the BQE by building as narrow a structure as possible,” Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez wrote in a statement.
In December, the city presented plans that included three lanes on the upgraded roadway.
Currently, there are only two lanes in each direction – a measure meant to reduce the deterioration of the 1.5-mile stretch of roadway. Advocates and politicians had said the city should not be expanding space for cars, but rather seeking to reduce traffic.
“Every elected official representing the triple cantilever section has been crystal clear with DOT, we want to see a two-lane solution,” City Councilmember Lincoln Restler told Gothamist. “We can’t afford to add a third lane that would amount to 6 million more vehicles releasing emissions in our community each and every year. It’s unacceptable for our climate future and we fully expect DOT to identify a viable two-lane solution.”
The triple cantilever section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, as seen in 2017
NYC Department of Transportation
Robert Moses built the section of highway, which was considered an engineering marvel at the time, during his push to create more car infrastructure in New York. But engineers have warned that the section is deteriorating and could be unusable as soon as 2026.
The city still hasn’t implemented a ticketing program for overweight trucks on the BQE – another measure intended to extend the life of the triple cantilever. Local officials attributed the delay to a dispute with their federal counterparts over the calibration of scales used to weigh the trucks.
"The BQE is a relic of an era of racist highway planning. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconnect communities the BQE tore apart, and we can't waste this chance," Kathy Park Price, Brooklyn organizer at Transportation Alternatives, wrote in an email. "Now is the time to build infrastructure that meets the needs of all New Yorkers — not rebuild highways."
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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