BQE 2023 Interim Repairs Project

BQE 2023 Interim Repairs Project

Managing Agency:
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Location: Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE/I-278) from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street
Summary Description: Roadway Engineering & Safety Project
Status: In progress
- Construction has begun
Expected Date of Completion: 2032
 

Sections of the BQE, built between the 1930s and 1960s, are in acute need of structural repairs. Through this joint project, New York City and New York State will work together to make repairs on defective sections of the BQE and begin working on a community-driven plan for a safe, modern, and resilient roadway while taking advantage of federal infrastructure money.

The BQE plays a major role in moving people and goods locally and regionally. The expressway carries an estimated 129,000 vehicles a day and consists of twelve miles of roadway, bridges, trenches, and viaducts running through Brooklyn and Queens, including the triple cantilevered section underneath the Brooklyn Promenade. Residents and city officials have been expressing concerns about the BQE’s structural integrity for nearly a decade.

For purposes of the repairs, New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) has delineated three sections of the BQE: BQE North, running from Sands street to the Kosciuszko Bridge, BQE Central, consisting of the city owned structures from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street, and BQE South, running from Atlantic Avenue to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

As part of the repairs project, DOT will make urgent repairs to the Atlantic-to-Sands section to ensure its safety, while working with communities along the BQE corridor to envision and design a modernized, resilient structure with significant public space upgrades and safety improvements for pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists. The BQE North and South project engagement will identify strategies to reconnect communities who are divided by the highway and have been left out of previous BQE engagement processes. This project will follow four guiding principles: 1) stakeholder involvement, 2) Urgency and Resiliency, 3) Equity, 4) Fiscal Responsibility.

BQE repairs will involve 3 weekend closures between March and October of 2023, which will reroute BQE traffic through Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, and sections of CB14. Specifically, some truck traffic will be rerouted down Caton Avenue.

Map of BQE Central and BQE North and South. Credit: New York City Department of Transportation
Timeline from 2022 to 2032 to show the projected schedule for BQE Corridor Vision upgrade initiatives

Timeline

2027-2032 (anticipated)

Design, construction and ongoing engagement for BQE Central

2027-2032 (anticipated)
2025-2032 (anticipated)

Planning, design and implementation of long terms improvements for BQE North & South

2025-2032 (anticipated)
2024-2026 (anticipated)

Urgent repairs as needed & design-build procurement for BQE Central

2024-2026 (anticipated)
2023-2025 (anticipated)

Design and implementation of short-term improvements on BQE North & South
Ongoing public engagement activities for BQE Central

2023-2025 (anticipated)
March-October 2023

3 planned closures of BQE for repairs

Exact dates TBD – Visit DOT’s Special Traffic Advisories page and find upcoming closures related to Interim Repairs Project under “BQE Closures and Detours”

March-October 2023
February & March 2023

In-person and virtual workshops hosted by NYC DOT

February & March 2023
December 2022

Preliminary design concept for BQE Central unveiled
DOT held public workshops

Press release

December 2022
November 2, 2022

CB14 Transportation Committee Meeting discussed BQE repairs project

Watch the meeting

November 2, 2022
November 2022

DOT held in-person and virtual workshops about BQE North and South

November 2022
October 2022

DOT held in-person and virtual workshops about BQE Central

Workshops were held about BQE Central to understand community needs, preferences and priorities. DOT named members of the BQE Community Visioning Council & Community Partner Program to advise DOT and its consultants on engagement content and strategies, discuss emerging concerns, plan for future engagement, process information from past engagement, and share feedback.

October 2022
September 22, 2022

DOT meeting with CB14, 12 & 7 on BQE Interim Repair Detours

The NYC DOT provided a presentation on planned detours related to BQE interim repairs scheduled to take place in 2023. Hosted by Assemblymember Robert Carroll in partnership with the Transportation Committees from Brooklyn CB 14, 12 and 7. Watch

September 22, 2022
September 16, 2022

Public engagement process announced to accelerate long-term BQE fix

Mayor Adams and NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced community engagement process to inform long-term fixes to the BQE and advance planning effort to reconnect communities along the Brooklyn corridor. Press release

September 16, 2022
1937-1964

BQE constructed

1937-1964

Documents, Presentations and Videos

November 2, 2022 CB14 Transportation Committee Meeting

September 22, 2022 DOT Meeting with CB14, 12 and 7

Presentation on interim repairs to CB2 & CB6, June 2022

NOTE: This page was last updated on June 10, 2024 and it may be out of date.
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