City Delays BQE Renovation Project to Study Traffic Patterns

YS Gold 

As has been reported here, the NYC Department of Transportation has undertaken an ambitious construction project aiming to overhaul the aging and deteriorating Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, in particular the famed “cantilever section” which takes passengers from Boro Park to Williamsburg.  

Now comes the news that the city is delaying the project by at least a few months in an effort to better study traffic patterns in the area—later incorporating the findings into the final design for the roadway and how many lanes it would feature. The initial plan was for there to be an environmental study, and later a traffic study. This has now been reversed. 

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine BQE Central,” said DOT spokesman Vin Barone, referring to the cantilever and the sections of highway directly adjacent. ”We are determined to get it right.”

“This revised timeline, developed with our state and federal partners, streamlines decision-making and allows for additional public engagement — maximizing our chances of getting through the federal approval process, securing critical federal funding, and delivering a safer, greener BQE,” Barone said.