BQE Fix Leaves Brooklyn BP 'Extremely Concerned'

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — The future of the often maligned Brooklyn-Queens Expressway was presented to the public Tuesday evening, and right away some contradictions were obvious.

On the one hand, each of the three design options, with names reminiscent of high-end residential developments like "The Stoop," "The Terraces," and "The Lookout," preserve the triple-cantilevered structure along with plans to cap the polluting highway with greenspace, giving Brooklynites more park acreage and hopefully a respite from noise and air pollution.

But the plan also includes restoring all three lanes of highway, a move that many advocates say is a step in the wrong direction when it comes to improving air quality and fighting climate change and only examines a small section of the maligned roadway, something that Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso says left him "extremely concerned."

“I am extremely concerned with the narrow vision for the future of the BQE that was presented by DOT at last night’s meeting,” Reynoso said in a statement to Patch. “What was initially presented as a comprehensive approach to re-envisioning the entire BQE corridor has quickly devolved into a process that is focused solely on the city-owned cantilever portion of the expanse. "

The former Brooklyn Borough President and current Mayor Eric Adams says this is the best shot the city has at change.

“Now is the time to think big. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a BQE for the 21st century and transform an environmental and aesthetic nightmare into a dream come true for our city,” said Mayor Adams in a statement on Tuesday.

While Reynoso agrees with Adams that this is a major opportunity that shouldn't be missed, he says the current plan sidelines environmental concerns of communities that have suffered the effects of traffic-belching exhaust fumes for nearly 70 years.

"It is past time for our partners at the state level to make a real commitment to envisioning and quickly implementing solutions for the state-owned portions of the BQE to the north and south," Reynoso said. "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right, it’s time for us to come together and produce forward-looking solutions that work for all of Brooklyn.”

Previous ideas that called for more drastic alterations to the Robert Moses-era roadway, like burying the highway similar to Boston's 17 year Big Dig project, were nixed because of nearby MTA infrastructure.

Instead, the concepts imagine various reshufflings of the troubled section of expressway in Brooklyn Heights, which could crumble by 2026 due to years of wear by cars and trucks.

Last year, two lanes were removed from the cantilevered section to reduce stress and improve safety by adding a shoulder lane. Officials said Tuesday they would begin to issue tickets to oversized trucks —a major source of wear — according to Gothamist.

But the plans also call to restore the full six lanes of traffic to the expressway, leading many locals and advocates echoing the Brooklyn BP's sentiment that concerns about climate, pollution and noise are being left in the dust.

Former city transportation commissioner Hank Gutman told the New York Times that in an era where the city should be embracing a future with fewer private automobiles, “the idea of spending billions to double down on Robert Moses’s interstate truck highway through residential neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens makes no sense.”

Others felt that the ideas were limited in creativity and scope.

“It’s really weird that there was a long process with a lot of really creative ideas people had for this highway re-envisioning, we talked about everything from bus rapid transit to affordable housing opportunities,” Liz Denys, a member of the advocacy group Bridges 4 People, told StreetsblogNYC. “It’s hard to see how this will translate if we’re maintaining the size.”

Fixing this section of the BQE has long been an issue of concern, with a previous mayor offering mostly piecemeal repairs to keep the structure from literally collapsing atop drivers.

No plans for the remaining sections of the 70-years-old expressway were presented.

The construction of the BQE, according to many older Brooklynites who grew up along its route, tore neighborhoods and communities apart and is a key legacy project of former city leviathan Robert Moses.