BQE’s Reduction in Lanes from Three to Two in Both Directions Starts Tomorrow Morning

     The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) began its work on Friday on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE), whose lanes will be reduced from three to two between Atlantic Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge: starting tomorrow.

     Drivers who use the BQE should be expecting to experience substantial delays and are encouraged to take public transportation or “explore alternate routes,” said the DOT, which also suggested that trucks and essential vehicles should use the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the New Jersey Turnpike, starting tomorrow.

     “This lane remarking may be inconvenient for some, but it is essential to making the road safer immediately and for decades to come,” said DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman. “During this necessary work on the BQE, we strongly encourage drivers to seek alternate routes and use public transportation.”

     The DOT is reducing the BQE’s lanes, in both directions is part of a long-term and extensive plan to “reduce weight on the roadway,” and to extend the life and safety of the BQE, which was first built in 1954.

     Other new safety provisions on the BQE include providing dedicated exit and entrance lanes and an adequate shoulder that will minimize impacts from incidents.

      “The city is focused on continually maintaining and preserving the existing structure of the BQE,” said the DOT, which hopes that its maintenance efforts and changes to the expressway will forestall further renovations for another 20 years.