On Monday, August 24, Mayor Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn announced a plan to rehabilitate BQE Central — the roughly 1.5-mile, City-owned stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. It includes the 0.4-mile triple cantilever that carries the highway beneath the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Here is what the City is planning to do, and what it means for the streets, parks and playgrounds your family uses.
Repair, not reinvention
This is a rehabilitation, not a rebuild and not a teardown. NYC DOT will repair the highway deck, walls, joints and structural elements, and improve drainage, railings and lighting. The highway stays two lanes in each direction — it will not be widened, and the interchanges will not change. The structure was built 70 years ago, carrying roughly 130,000 vehicles a day, about 13,000 of them trucks. That is more than double what it was designed for. The City puts the cost of continuing to wait at $160 million a year in escalation alone. The repaired structure is designed to last another 40 years. DOT estimates the work at $3.5 to $4 billion, with $1.6 billion currently allocated in the Capital Plan.
Two temporary highways, then they come down
To keep traffic off local streets during construction, DOT plans to build temporary bypass structures. The first is a two-level bypass built over Furman Street, running from Atlantic Avenue to Columbia Heights. The City says it will be no higher than the existing Queens-bound roadway and will not block the Promenade. North of Columbia Heights, the current design shows a second bypass carrying Queens-bound traffic over the existing BQE and the Brooklyn Bridge approach, toward the Manhattan Bridge. DOT says it is still reviewing alternate designs. Whatever gets built, both structures are meant to be removed once the repairs are done.
The Promenade, Squibb Park and Harry Chapin Playground
The Promenade is not a separate thing sitting on top of the highway — it is part of the triple cantilever, so it has to be reconstructed along with everything else. DOT’s commitment is that portions of the Promenade will stay open at all times during construction, “to the extent feasible.” The same phrasing covers the nearby parks. DOT says it will maintain access to Squibb Park, Hillside Dog Park and Harry Chapin Playground during the work. Harry Chapin Playground will be reconstructed as part of the Columbia Heights overpass rehabilitation, so expect that one to close and come back.
Construction start dates
The Mayor’s announcement says the project will break ground in 2030 and run about 10 years. DOT’s own project FAQ says construction is “currently expected to begin in 2029 and finish by 2040.” Both documents were published the same week, and both put the finish line at 2040; the start year is the piece that has not settled. DOT notes the schedule will be studied and updated as the project advances. Either way, a child starting kindergarten in Brooklyn Heights or DUMBO this September will be finishing high school around the time the work wraps.
How to have a say this fall
The project enters the City Environmental Quality Review process this fall, with an environmental impact statement expected in summer 2028. That review will study construction impacts, traffic, noise, air quality, parks and open space, historic resources and neighborhood character.
Before the formal comment period opens, DOT is running two virtual Q&A sessions. Registration links have not been posted yet.
Virtual Q&A #1
Tuesday, October 6 | 7–8 p.m. | online | free | registration link to be posted
Virtual Q&A #2
Thursday, October 22 | 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | online | free | registration link to be posted
DOT also plans in-person pop-up events with project materials and staff, with details still to come. Formal public comments will only be accepted during the CEQR public scoping period, which opens later this fall and will include two public scoping meetings. Details and instructions will be posted on the BQE Central project page.
What this plan does not cover
The City owns 1.5 miles of the BQE. The State owns the other 10.6 miles in Brooklyn — the trenched sections in north and south Brooklyn and the elevated viaducts — and none of that is in this project.
Separately, the City and State are funding a traffic safety redesign of Third Avenue in Sunset Park, $17 million in capital upgrades to Park Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, and $26 million for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway in Gowanus and Red Hook, which was completed earlier this year.
The full details, including the project overview, the FAQ and a guide to participating, are on NYC DOT’s BQE Central page, and the announcement is on the Mayor’s Office site.
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