Image Credit: Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons
The independent, interdisciplinary panel will submit recommendations to be considered in the BQE reconstruction process. On April 3, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the formation of a new expert panel to evaluate reconstruction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) from the Atlantic Avenue interchange and Sands Street. This section of the BQE spans 1.5 miles and is among the most complex highway structures in the country. It is part of Interstate 278, an inter-state and inter-borough connector that has daily traffic exceeding 150,000 vehicles, including more than 15,000 trucks.
(read more…)
Rendering of proposed streetscape. Image credit: Mayor’s Office
Vehicle speeds will be limited to five miles per hour, allowing them to share street with pedestrians and cyclists, while space will be provided for tables, chairs and plantings. On September 29, 2017, the de Blasio administration announced a plan to create a “Shared Street” on 43rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. The Mayor’s Office tied the creation of the shared street to the rezoning of East Midtown, and commitments to improvements to transit and public space through commercial growth. (read more…)
Comm. Board’s transportation committee opposes initial plan. The Department of Transportation proposed a plan to Brooklyn Community Board 6 to change 6th and 7th Avenues in Park Slope to one-way traffic and reduce the number of lanes on 4th Avenue.
On March 15, 2007, DOT presented the proposals to Board 6’s Transportation Committee. DOT proposed to turn 6th Avenue between 23rd Street and Atlantic Avenue into a northbound one-way avenue, and 7th Avenue between Flatbush and Prospect Avenues into a southbound one-way avenue. DOT said the changes would reduce traffic conflicts, create predictable traffic patterns, remove left-turning conflicts and potentially reduce head-on collisions. Overall, the plan would improve automobile and pedestrian safety. The changes to 4th Avenue would affect the stretch between Dean and 17th Streets, reducing the number of moving lanes from three to two, and adding left-turn lanes. DOT explained that it would follow the full board’s final recommendation. (read more…)
