| The Cobble Hill Association (CHA) invites you to an evening focused on the question: “What is possible for the BQE corridor?” To bring about a comprehensive and transformative plan, we need to imagine what we want for our future. |
| Mayor’s BQE EXPERT PANEL released their study Read: Executive Summary and the Full Report PDF The panel chose not to recommend a specific design, instead outlining a “path forward for the next decade” while a more comprehensive plan is developed. After conducting new tests on the cantilevered section between Atlantic Ave and Sands Street the panel found it to have a lifespan of only 5 to 6 years. This makes repair or reconstruction more urgent than originally anticipated. This newly discovered urgency outlined the rest of their recommendations, allowing them to focus on the short term. The panel rejected any temporary highway, on the promenade or through Brooklyn Bridge Park. The report recommends the following: The panel specifically rejected a transformative plan for the original project area only (Atlantic to Sands) saying it would not be equitable to the rest of the corridor. The panel does not recommend completely removing the highway, saying they “believe we need a highway for cars and trucks to move, but it can be done better.” Repairing the BQE now to give it another 15-20 years, which is estimated to cost approximately $1.5 billion. Already in effect: DOT has already started these repairs. NYPD is enforcing overweight truck use along the corridor and before the cantilever section. Currently not in practice but recommended to start now: Reducing the BQE from 6 to 4 lanes. Traffic mitigation and reduction measures including removal of on/off ramps. New ferry and bus service from Staten Island to downtown Brooklyn andManhattan. While repairs are underway, study a comprehensive transformative plan for the entire BQE from the Verazzanno to the Kościuszko. Development of this corridor-wide plan will involve joint cooperation from New York State, “which controls the remaining 18 miles of the BQE, and the federal government will need to be fully engaged…Therefore, a joint working group of three levels of government should be immediately convened.” |