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Politics & Government

Will the BQE Ever Catch Up?

Constantly mired with repairs, with plans recently scrapped for a host of upgrade possibilities, will the BQE ever be a reliable highway?

Potholes, construction cones and endless traffic waits due to road work are familiar to anyone who’s driven on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and according to the New York Times, the 16.8 mile highway will not be getting better anytime soon.

Last month, the state nixed two environmental studies that were examining the construction of tunnels, and rebuilding sections of the highway in Brooklyn Heights and along part of the Gowanus Expressway, according to the Times. The reasoning was that there was just not enough money for the $6 million study.

In December, Sen. Daniel Squadron pleaded with Albany for money to fix the antiquated highway, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

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“The BQE is years past due for structural work,” Squadron wrote in a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, according to the Eagle. In addition, the paper quotes Borough President Marty Markowitz as saying that the DOT’s decision to cancel the study of the roadway “an insult” to Brooklyn residents and drivers.

“The perception of the public that the road is always under construction is accurate,” Denise M. Richardson, the executive director of the General Contractors Association of New York, told the Times. “Because what happens is, we have to close a lane, fix the lane, open the lane, and repeat the cycle.”

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We’ve covered lane-closured plenty of in the past, though even with the best planning a traffic back-up sometimes can’t be avoided. So let us know your thoughts on the state of the BQE, and vote in our poll below.

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