BQE triple cantilever weekend closures starting mid-October

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Drivers should prepare now for full closures of a section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, set to begin mid-October, the NYC Department of Transportation said Monday.

NYC DOT expects the first of three projected closures of the BQE’s Triple Cantilever to take place from Saturday, Oct. 14 at 2 a.m. through Monday, Oct. 16 at 4 a.m.  

The work will entail closing the highway between the Atlantic Avenue entrance ramp and the Manhattan Bridge exit ramp in the Queens-bound direction.  There will also be partial lane closures at the same time in the Staten Island-bound direction.  

Travelers are strongly encouraged to avoid the BQE during this work.

The closures focus on installing new concrete and reinforcing steel bars at spans near Clark Street and Grace Court, as part of interim repairs on this decrepit section of the BQE. 

“We are making critical repairs to the BQE  to preserve its lifespan while at the same time trying to minimize impact on the local community,” NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a release. “We will keep the public closely updated on our progress as we plan ahead for this work.”

Traffic mitigations planned

Traffic from the BQE, which carries more than 150,000 vehicles a day, will be rerouted along Brooklyn streets including Atlantic, Third, Fourth and Flatbush avenues. Full detour maps can be found here.

“Tons of modeling efforts” came up with the most tolerable traffic mitigations, Tanvi Pandya, executive director of BQE, Design Build & Emergency Contracts at NYC DOT, said at a virtual meeting in July. 

DOT will be working with New Jersey Transit, MTA, the Port Authority and Google Maps to divert traffic from the BQE during the three closure weekends, Pandya said. Traffic agents will be stationed around the assigned routes, at the Prospect Expressway and in lower Manhattan. Emergency services will be stationed in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

“In…