DOT Picks Engineers for BQE Revamp

By on November 3, 2006 4:00 pm in Development, Government, Landmark Preservation, News

The New York State Department of Transportation has selected White Plains based HDR as the primary consultants on the $200 million BQE Triple Cantilever Project. The firm will lead the "scoping" effort on the portion of the expressway that spans from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street and supports the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

HDR's website explains the scoping process as: Identifying existing conditions and needs, substandard features, safety, and operational deficiencies; in-depth inspection; establishing load rating design criteria; identifying goals and objectives; developing and evaluating feasible alternatives and their environmental, social, and economic impacts; right of way study; air quality and noise screening; hazardous waste/contaminated materials site investigation and assessment; visual impact assessment; historic preservation and restoration; and conceptual maintenance and protection of traffic design including construction staging.

The company also says another "critical element" of the project will be  "public and agency outreach" regarding the endeavor.  The project is bound to take years with the associated construction causing traffic delays as well as environmental issues and encroach on the quality of life for residents along the route.

Share this Story:

  • epc

    That FHWA document is interesting reading…I know it’s not final, but apparently they are considering tunnelling under Furman Street as one option of adding capacity, also removing the existing cantilevers and rebuilding them to be 3 lanes + a sort of half lane shoulder.

    Also, Columbia Heights to be closed for 9 months (unclear if that’s the entire length or just the section at Middagh).

  • BP

    I yanked this off the Yahoo! Groups BrooklynHeightsParents..
    Unfortunately, this post comes post mortem.
    —–
    Hi All

    When will the long-overdue rebuilding of the BQE cantilever begin?
    What provision will be made to keep the traffic flowing around, not
    through, downtown neighborhoods during construction? Will the
    rebuilding require extensive demolition of a to-be-completed Brooklyn
    Bridge Park? Will the Heights Promenade be closed during the construction
    and for how long? Of more casual interest, how will the 360 Furman
    Street (“One Brooklyn Bridge Park”) condo market be affected, since
    long-term construction would go on several feet away from the
    luxury complex?

    This Tuesday evening, April 17th, at 6 PM, a NYS Dept. of
    Transportation team will give a PowerPoint presentation about the
    rebuilding project to the CB2 Transportation and Public Safety Committees at
    St. Francis College’s Founders Hall, Remsen Street, between Court
    and Clinton Sts. The public is invited to attend. We don’t yet
    know whether questions will be accepted from the floor or only
    from/through Committee members, but either way, the subject is of vital
    importance to our communities. The reconstruction of the BQE received
    little attention in the BBP environmental impact review. That the ongoing, concrete
    discussions of the BQE project have been, let’s say, underpublicized in the year
    (March 21-23, 2006, at the Crowne Plaza Laguardia) that’s passed since local
    officials were briefed by the Federal Highway Administration, makes it essential
    for the community to play serious catchup.

    St. Francis security will direct you to the meeting room. We hope to see you there.
    —–