Repairs to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway triple cantilever will take longer than expected under a revised schedule released Thursday by the city Department of Transportation.
The structure, which threads the highway around Brooklyn Heights, is slated for a major redesign as well as significant repair.
A required environmental review of the project won’t start until officials decide how many traffic lanes are needed for the project, the Transportation Department said.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine BQE Central,” said DOT spokesman Vin Barone, referring to the cantilever and the sections of highway directly adjacent. “We are determined to get it right.”
The new schedule calls for an analysis of traffic patterns and public hearings to determine the number of lanes before any environmental review can begin.
That’s expected to push the start environmental review from the fall of 2023 to early 2024, Barone said.
“This revised timeline, developed with our state and federal partners, streamlines decision-making and allows for additional public engagement — maximizing our chances of getting through the federal approval process, securing critical federal funding, and delivering a safer, greener BQE,” Barone added.
The new timeline is expected to delay the start of the project’s construction and design phase by about six months — from the first half of 2027 to the second half of 2027.
The BQE north and south of the downtown Brooklyn corridor is controlled by the New York State Department of Transportation, which has yet to decide if it will be redesigning any additional portion of the highway.
The triple cantilever, which holds some 150,000 vehicles a day, has long been in need of serious structural repairs.
Barone said Thursday that the DOT plans on beginning interim repairs in the coming months that should shore up the structure through 2028.
