NYC's Newest Way To Protect Crumbling BQE: Overweight Truck Sensors

NEW YORK CITY — A first-in-the-nation automatic ticketing program targeted at overweight trucks will be the city's latest strategy to protect the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, officials said.

Overweight trucks starting Thursday will start receiving warnings if they trigger "weigh-in-motion" sensors as they drive toward Queens on the BQE's city-owned span from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street, transportation officials announced.

The 90-day warning period will end Nov. 8, when violations will be met with a $650 fine, they said.

“Overweight trucks cause wear and tear that requires costly maintenance and reduces the lifespan of our roads and bridges," said Ydanis Rodriguez, the city's transportation commissioner.

"We need to keep overweight trucks off our streets, and New York City is leading on this with the first-in-the-nation automated weigh-in-motion enforcement system to issue violations to those who break the law."

The sensor program is arguably small potatoes compared to controversial proposed longer-term fixes for the deteriorating BQE being eyed by city officials.

The cantilever stretch of the Robert Moses-era near Brooklyn Heights has long been an issue of concern, with former Mayor Bill de Blasio offering mostly piecemeal repairs to keep the structure from literally collapsing atop drivers.

Mayor Eric Adams promised "no more kicking the can," but then delayed an important environmental review this year to conduct a traffic study.