BQE Reduces Lanes from Three to Two in Both Directions, Starting Monday

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Drivers who use the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) are advised to remember and perhaps to adjust their Monday morning commutes, when the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) reduces, indefinitely, the number of lanes in both directions.

     The reduction in the number of lanes from three to two on the BQE is part of the DOT’s many efforts to reduce weight on the road and postpone further overhauls on the 67-year-old road for another 20 years.

     The lane reduction will take place between Atlantic Avenue and the Brooklyn Bridge.

      “It goes into effect Monday morning, and it is indefinite,” said Scott Gastel, the DOT’s press secretary. “For now, only two lanes are there to stay, although the reduction in lanes is not necessarily permanent.

     “The long-term vision for the project is to reduce the weight on these bridge structures.”

     In early August, Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed the scourge of freight trucks and other trucks for excessive wear and tear on the BQE, which was first built in 1954.

     The DOT’s reduction in lanes will also help to minimize excess weight on the expressway by reducing traffic.

     Another interesting way the mayor proposed to reduce traffic and trucks on the road is for e-commerce to transport goods and deliveries via boats on the many water resources that surround the city, rather than weighing down the city's roads with more and more trucks.

    DOT Commissioner also suggested that trucks deliver goods to central locations, from which smaller, more efficient vehicles can then deliver to individual residents.

     “New York City can do more than patch up a highway in need of repair,” said the mayor, who also strongly advocates the use of mass transit, walking, and biking instead of cars for personal transportation. "We can use this opportunity to rethink how people, goods, and services move around our city."

     “For now, there is going to be a little different traffic pattern,” Gastel told BoroPark24. “We are advising local drivers that there will be delays.”