State Senator Andrew Gounardes’ newsletter advises us of two public workshops to discuss plans for the “BQE Central”; i.e. the cantilevered portion of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that sits below Brooklyn Heights between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. On Tuesday, February 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM there will be an in-person workshop at Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl Street. All are invited and no advance registration is required, but you must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. For those who can’t attend on Tuesday or who prefer to attend remotely, there will be a workshop on Zoom Thursday evening, March 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Register here to get the Zoom link.
Gothamist reports a welcome bit of news. Pursuant to a plan by the previous mayoral administration to stabilize BQE Central while longer term plans were developed, traffic on BQE Central was reduced from three lanes to two. However, when the City Department of Transportation revealed possible long term Central BQE plans in December, reverting to three lanes was seen as a possibility. According to Gothamist the DOT has now said “it’s re-examining the number of lanes it might build as part of upgrades and repairs to the triple cantilever section of the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights waterfront.” This will entail redesigning environmental studies, the start of which will be delayed. That will in turn cause delay in the start of work. Gothamist quotes City Council Member Lincoln Restler:
We can’t afford to add a third lane that would amount to 6 million more vehicles releasing emissions in our community each and every year. It’s unacceptable for our climate future and we fully expect DOT to identify a viable two-lane solution.
