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3w ago

Mamdani Unveils $3.5–$4 Billion Plan to Rehabilitate BQE Central

Temporary two-level bypasses are intended to keep traffic moving during a decade-long reconstruction despite unresolved funding and parkland approvals.

When it comes to the BQE, Mayor Mamdani said the city is "done kicking the can down the road" — but critics charges he's doing exactly that.
The city plans to build a temporary highway atop Furman Street in order to rebuild the adjacent triple-cantilver structure of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Big changes are coming to the BQE triple cantilever along the Brooklyn Heights waterfront.

Overview

  • Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the plan on Monday to repair the city-owned 1.5-mile BQE Central triple-cantilever instead of removing it with an estimated cost of $3.5–$4 billion.
  • The city will build two temporary two-level bypasses — one along Furman Street beneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and a second elevated route over the Brooklyn Bridge approach — to carry traffic while crews reconstruct the cantilever.
  • DOT says construction is targeted to begin around 2030 with about a 10-year schedule and that the work would extend the structure’s life roughly 40 years to about 2080.
  • The project enters a City Environmental Quality Review with public scoping and an Environmental Impact Statement expected by summer 2028 while the exact mix of city, state, or federal funding remains unclear.
  • Community groups and local elected officials have raised concerns about impacts to Brooklyn Bridge Park, partial promenade closures and the need for legal approval to use parkland, and city control of only this 1.5-mile segment means broader corridor changes will require state or federal cooperation.