A new plan to fix the crumbling BQE in Brooklyn Heights

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The architect who helped scuttle former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans to repair the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway now has a new proposal that he says is a “much simpler, faster, cheaper project” than the plans Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is now considering.

Marc Wouters plans to present a proposal to the city that would move all traffic to the lower level of the triple cantilever and build new lanes for southbound traffic. The level above it would be extended and converted into a landscaped terrace covering all the traffic below.

A major benefit of the plan, according to Wouters, is that the new lanes and terrace could be built without having to rebuild the entire triple cantilever structure. The plans the city is considering to repair the 1.5 mile stretch of roadway are estimated to cost at least $5 billion.

“ We don't need to demolish the existing triple cantilever structure. We're going to reuse it and repurpose it,” Wouters said. “That's also an incredible cost savings.”

Wouters is not new to the BQE. In 2019 he pitched a different plan to fix the roadway, arguing against de Blasio’s proposals, which would have either shuttered the Brooklyn Heights Promenade entirely for six years so it could be turned into a temporary six-lane highway, or replaced the roadway through short-term closures over eight years.

De Blasio’s plan fell apart due to local opposition.

But time is running out. In 2020, the de Blasio administration released a report that found “overweight trucks and faster-than-expected deterioration may cause sections of the road to become unsafe and incapable of carrying current traffic within five years.”

The city says temporary fixes have proved effective at extending the life of the current structure, which was used by 155,000 vehicles every day before the pandemic.

The roadway has been reduced from three lanes of traffic to two in both directions. In 2023, the Department of Transportation began ticketing overweight trucks. This week the agency released a report showing the tickets have reduced heavy trucks that put extra wear and tear on the roadway by 60%. But there are only weight sensors for northbound truck traffic. Ticketing of southbound traffic is expected to start later this year.

The proposals currently under consideration by the city weren’t well received. New York magazine suggested they lacked inspiration. The transit-friendly administration of former President Joe Biden rejected the city’s $800 million grant application to study those options, without giving a reason.

The influential Regional Plan Association is taking Wouters' plan seriously.

“ I think there's a lot to like about it,” Rachel Weinberger, a director at the RPA, told Gothamist. “ I think he's put together a really thoughtful plan and proposal that I think accomplishes many of the city's goals and the community's goals.”

Wouters said there’d be no need for a temporary roadway, the existing retaining wall would be preserved and an MTA fan plant connected to the Clark Street station wouldn’t need to be relocated.

His plan has also piqued the interest of local activists.

“At first blush it seems more creative and less disruptive than what we've seen so far from NYCDOT and its BQE project team,” Lara Birnback, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, told Gothamist.

Nevertheless, she said her group favors an emphasis on repairs to keep the triple cantilever in service for another 15 to 20 years while officials focus on a more “transformative and sustainable solution” for the BQE corridor. She noted that political turmoil at City Hall, the mayoral race and uncertainty around federal funding made the future of the current BQE project very cloudy.

The Department of Transportation hasn’t reviewed Wouters' plan, but spokesperson Vin Barone wrote in an email that the agency is preparing to start an environmental review this spring and will continue looking at all options.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Marc Wouters' last name.

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Kenneth, from Brooklyn:

“Why did G trains recently switch back to older models? Will the G get back the newer train cars it was running?”

Answer

The MTA actually just put two open-gangway trains into G train service. Those train cars, which are the subway system’s newest models, allow riders to easily walk between cars. But yes, most of the current fleet on the G are older trains with yellow and orange conversational seating. That’s because the transit agency has been investigating a defect on the tracks that’s affected the wheels of the usual G train cars. The MTA says it's on track to resolve the issue and then put the newer cars back into service. The MTA plans to eventually purchase modern train cars for the G, overhauling the fleet entirely.

The latest NYC area transit headlines

• The shiny new open-gangway G trains. Remember when you’d have to run to catch the rear of a short little G train, only to end up stuck in a crowded car? Now you can easily walk to the front!
  “It’s refreshing seeing people all the way through. It’s fun.” - Liz Longo, a 63-year-old rider who approves of the upgrade
• Ramsey Khalifeh spoke with riders and captured some footage of these cars in action when they debuted on Tuesday. The MTA says more open-gangway trains are scheduled to hit the G line in the coming months.
• Hopefully cyclists and pedestrians can stop feuding (and crashing into each other) in Central Park. The main six-mile loop around the park will be overhauled to create three separate lanes: One for pedestrians and joggers, one for cyclists, and one for e-bikes and emergency vehicles.
• This week in the double-parking crackdown: Assemblymember Steven Raga of Queens is leading a group of Democrats pushing for 150 new cameras that could automatically ticket double parkers.
• Not-as-open streets. Vanderbilt Avenue’s popular car-free events that began during the pandemic will return this summer – but only on Saturdays.
• “R” for “rarely.” Commuters are facing longer-than-usual wait times on the R train after the MTA pulled two dozen relatively new subway cars from service due to a mysterious mechanical issue.
• Congestion pricing has yellow cabs seeing green. New Taxi and Limousine Commission data shows that yellow taxis had a 19% increase in total trips within the toll zone, contributing to the best January for cabbies since the pandemic.
• Foamer alert: Metro-North is running an olive green Genesis-model P32AC-DM locomotive on the New Haven line as part of its “Heritage Series.”
• Listen to us talk about all this! Download our app and tune in to “All Things Considered” around 4 p.m. on Thursdays. And catch up on last week’s segment in case you missed it.