NYC announces $4 billion plan to fix infamous section of the BQE

Long Island drivers take note: After years of discussion, New York City officials unveiled a $4 billion plan Monday to rehabilitate the iconic and infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

The rusting and severely deteriorated 1.5-mile-long triple-cantilevered section in Brooklyn Heights is 20 years past its design life and bearing the weight of 130,000 vehicles every day, city officials said.

"For decades, prior administrations have failed to deliver urgent long-term repairs to BQE Central — but we can no longer afford to wait for the perfect solution," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. "The cost of inaction is too high, and the risks to New Yorkers are too important to delay any longer."

But, Long Island and metro-area drivers shouldn’t celebrate yet over the news regarding the vital link to Brooklyn and multiple bridge access points to Manhattan.

The rehabilitation project isn’t expected to break ground until 2030 — and will take 10 years to complete.

Key to the project are plans by the city's Department of Transportation to build a temporary two-level bypass on top of Furman Street, below the promenade, from Atlantic Avenue to Columbia Heights — with a second temporary elevated highway bypass from Columbia Heights, over the Brooklyn Bridge approach, to the Manhattan Bridge.

Officials said the bypasses will allow for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the deteriorated section, improving drainage, lighting and railings, all while protecting local streets from "dangerous through traffic."

Officials also said the bypasses will "facilitate the movement of goods" while preserving access to historic destinations, including the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Designed by controversial road builder Robert Moses, the cantilevered section is the only portion of the BQE controlled by the city. When completed in 1954 it was designed to carry 50,000 vehicles a day — 80,000 fewer than it does now — and to last for 50 years.

A video released by the mayor’s office announcing the project opens with an overhead shot of a passing tractor trailer truck on the BQE blaring its horn. It then cuts to Mamdani, who says: "I’m standing under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. It’s nearly 70 years old and it’s long past its shelf life. While it’s still safe to drive on — for now — we can’t wait any longer."

The project is badly needed, the mayor said in making the announcement, because every year of inaction costs the city an additional $160 million and increases the risk of a shutdown that would force "a significant portion" of vehicle traffic, including an estimated 13,000 daily truck trips, onto local streets in the area, creating a nightmarish traffic scenario.

The NYC DOT will begin a city environmental quality review this fall for the project, a process that includes community engagement sessions and presentations.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.