Mayor Eric Adams is urging the federal government to expedite the long-delayed Brooklyn-Queens Expressway overhaul, warning that without immediate action, the city may be forced to impose truck weight restrictions and face massive traffic disruptions, according to AMNY.
In an Oct. 15 letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Adams asked the feds to publish a Notice of Intent by Nov. 14 to begin the federal environmental review for the deteriorating 1.5-mile stretch of the BQE between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street, the news site reported.
The letter marks a push by Adams to advance the project before leaving office in January. He cautioned that if the city cannot move forward soon, structural issues may force “significant weight restrictions in the short term and permanent closure in the medium term,” diverting heavy traffic onto local streets and causing “billions of dollars in economic losses.”
Local environmental and neighborhood organizations, which have been advocating against the city’s plans to overhaul and “potentially expand” the aging BQE, said they were blindsided by the mayor’s move to push forward, the news site said.
The Brooklyn Heights Association and other groups told AMNY that they are still waiting to receive a substantial response to their May 28 letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Adams, and state and city transportation leaders that urged them to abandon the NYC Department of Transportation’s design plans that would rebuild the heavily used thoroughfare before the official environmental review begins.
The USDOT’s Federal Highway Administration is currently reviewing the notice of intent packages from both city and state transportation agencies, but has not indicated when a decision will be made, AMNY reported.
