New York City officials announced a $4 billion plan to rebuild a section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on Aug. 24.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn announced the plan for the city-owned section of the BQE, stretching 1.5 miles between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street.
“For decades, prior administrations have failed to deliver urgent long-term repairs to BQE Central — but we can no longer afford to wait for the perfect solution,” Mamdani said. “The cost of inaction is too high, and the risks to New Yorkers are too important to delay any longer.”
“Time is up,” Flynn said in a statement. “After decades of kicking the can down the road and indecision that failed to yield substantial results, we will act with urgency to rehabilitate the city’s portion of the BQE.”
The BQE opened in 1957 and was designed by Robert Moses to last about 50 years.
The design is now 20 years past its planned lifespan and carries around 130,000 vehicles every day, more than twice the traffic it was designed for.
The $4 billion project is expected to begin in 2030 and take 10 years to complete, extending the BQE’s life by about 40 years. The main focus of the project is the triple cantilever, where multiple levels of highway are stacked along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
To keep the heavy traffic moving during construction, the city plans to build temporary bypasses rather than completely shutting down the highway.
“We’re going to fix the aging concrete, repair the deteriorating triple cantilever and build temporary roads that keep the highway operable during construction to avoid sending tens of thousands of cars and trucks onto local streets,” Mamdani said. “This plan allows us to safely fix the BQE without slowing our city down or wasting decades more on magical thinking.”
A two-level bypass would be constructed in both directions between Atlantic Avenue and Columbia Heights. The bypasses will run above Furman Street and below the promenade, carrying traffic over the Brooklyn Bridge approach to the Manhattan Bridge.
“Portions [of the promenade] will be closed at various points,” Nick Benson, a spokesperson for NYCDOT said. “Work has to be done on the promenade itself, so it’s unavoidable. But, every effort will be made to do it in phases so that there is always some level of access to the promenade.”
Local elected officials have expressed their enthusiasm for the proposal but also raise concerns about the impact on the community during construction.
“The question is, while they’re building that highway, will there be traffic diverted through local communities and that highway is there?” State Sen. Andrew Gounardes said. “What impact will that have on people trying to access Brooklyn Bridge Park?”
The city will begin the pre-construction process, which includes information sessions and community outreach. NYCDOT expects to issue an environmental impact statement during summer 2028 before construction begins in 2030.