Survey results: Redesign BQE to save Promenade, cover and reduce lanes, focus on climate and health

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A survey of almost 500 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill and Fulton Ferry Landing residents, conducted by the Brooklyn Heights Association, found that a large majority of respondents believe the city should redesign the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) for the “future of transportation and mobility, not the past,” BHA said on Monday.

Respondents’ top three priorities were: preserving the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and its special scenic view plane; burying or covering the highway; and improving air quality all along the BQE corridor.

Fully 70% agree the highway should not be widened to accommodate three lanes of traffic in each direction; and two-thirds (67%) believe the city should heed the advice of the BQE Expert Panel to carry out urgent short-term repairs immediately, buying time for a long-term, visionary transformation of the entire BQE corridor.

More information is needed about all aspects of NYC Department of Transportation’s plans — including timeline and costs; impact on neighborhood streets and parks, especially Brooklyn Bridge Park; and the impact on the Promenade, survey-takers said.

BHA, joined by its partners in the Coalition for the BQE Transformation (BQET), which represent 12 area neighborhoods and community organizations, has been pushing for a better BQE for years. BHA said it wants to see a “21st-century reimagining of the entire BQE corridor that benefits all of the adjacent communities, not just the neighborhoods next to the crumbling and decrepit Triple Cantilever section.”

The Triple Cantilever, which underlies the Promenade (a section called “BQE Central” by the city), is the first section of the interstate slated to be reconstructed due to its dilapidated condition. 

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