{"id":364750,"date":"2026-10-05T12:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364750\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T12:44:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:44:55","slug":"nyc-considers-temporary-highway-in-the-sky-over-the-brooklyn-bridge-to-repair-the-bqe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364750\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC considers temporary ‘highway in the sky’ over the Brooklyn Bridge to repair the BQE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cars<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShutterstock \/ Sujatha Vempaty<\/p>\n

New York City officials are weighing a radical fix for the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Freshly released city documents and renderings<\/a> reveal plans to construct a temporary elevated highway. The structure would soar directly over the approach to the historic Brooklyn Bridge.<\/p>\n

The NYC Department of Transportation aims to fully close and rebuild the highway\u2019s decaying triple-cantilever structure in Brooklyn Heights between 2032 and 2040. <\/p>\n

Crews would build the temporary elevated bypass from 2030 to 2032. Workers will dismantle the bypass once repairs wrap up in 2040.<\/p>\n

Carrying 130,000 vehicles over Dumbo<\/p>\n

The elevated roadway is designed to prevent traffic from flooding local neighborhood streets during construction. It would run above Furman Street right alongside Brooklyn Bridge Park.<\/p>\n

Renderings show the structure soaring past luxury high-rises in Dumbo. It then connects near a NYCHA complex by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Manhattan Bridge before routing back into the BQE. <\/p>\n

The detour will absorb the 130,000 vehicles that use the expressway every day.<\/p>\n

\"\"Source \/ NYC Department of Transportation<\/p>\n

Local pushback and park closures<\/p>\n

The massive BQE overhaul is estimated to cost up to $4 billion. <\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered transportation officials to advance the plan to address the triple-cantilever\u2019s rusted rebar and crumbling concrete. Past city leaders repeatedly delayed the critical repairs.<\/p>\n

However, neighbors and local officials are raising serious concerns. Councilmember Lincoln Restler noted that the bypass would carry traffic just 8 feet from people\u2019s homes. <\/p>\n

The project footprint also consumes 132,000 square feet of city parkland. Because of this, the project will require formal approval from both the City Council and the NY State Legislature.<\/p>\n

City transportation officials estimate that the completed overhaul will extend the lifespan of the BQE\u2019s triple-cantilever structure by 40 years.could carry traffic just 8 feet from people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n

The footprint of the work swallows 132,000 square feet of popular city parks. This massive land use will require official approval from both the City Council and the state Legislature.<\/p>\n

Despite the looming disruption, city transportation officials promise a major long-term payoff. They estimate the massive project will extend the life of the triple-cantilever by 40 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shutterstock \/ Sujatha Vempaty New York City officials are weighing a radical fix for the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-364750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}