BQE UPDATE: New Yorkers Tell DOT They Want, “Less Traffic, More Green Space”

By Yehudit Garmaise

“Less traffic, improved safety, increased cleanliness, and more green space,” comprised much of the feedback provided by the 2,600 New Yorkers who returned surveys that asked what kinds of improvements were necessary on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE). 

To fight the BQE’s usual congestion, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to improve loading zones in neighborhoods that lie along the expressway. 

The DOT plans to improve the BQE’s safety by creating better infrastructure for pedestrians and bus riders, bikes, freight, and electric vehicles.

Red Hook, Sunset Park, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard will help to reduce diesel exhaust emissions by participating in an expansion of a “Clean Truck Program.”

To clean up the unfortunate dumping, the city’s Sanitation Department “is targeting viaducts under the BQE’s corridor,” announced the DOT about the improvements that the agency is set to launch this year.

With the aim of providing more recreational opportunities, the DOT will create open, green spaces along the BQE corridor for residents of Leif Ericson Park, from 5th Avenue to 2nd Avenue, the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway in Sunset Park, and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway along the Hamilton Avenue and Gowanus connector.

“Sharing these ideas for BQE North and South is a critical step towards giving the communities a vision of what the future includes, such as safer and more public space,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said with excitement about getting the “critical work underway.”