State officials last night pulled a controversial proposal to modernize and revamp the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that would have razed some 30 to 50 buildings along the pricey borough waterfront — including multimillion-dollar historic brownstones in Brooklyn Heights.
A crowd of about 100 concerned residents attending a project meeting at St. Francis College cheered once Peter King, project manager for the state Department of Transportation, announced that a plan to use eminent domain to help the outdated BQE meet federal guidelines for highways “isn’t a viable option” because 300 to 400 residential units would be lost.
“We can’t talk about the plan’s benefits when it runs roughshod through the neighborhood,” he said.
Using eminent domain in the Heights was always a long-shot – even after it was first floated by the state last month – but homeowners in the targeted area wanted guarantees that their property would not be touched.
And while the Brooklyn Heights Historic District appears safe, there’s still no guarantees –despite King’s announcement — that other homes and parkland nearby won’t be lost to modernize 1.5 miles of the decrepit roadway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street, including the two-level portion that runs under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
DOT is reviewing other ways to enhance the highway, which range from minor renovations to building an underground tunnel through Downtown Brooklyn.
Three versions of a tunnel plan were unveiled last night, including one that could take homes at yet-to-be decided sites to build ventilation buildings and portals for the tunnel.
Under that plan, the existing BQE over the stretch would go from three, eight-foot lanes in each direction to two, 12-foot lanes and would be supplemented by a tunnel with two-12-foot lanes each way.
The tunnel would begin at the intersection of Congress and Hicks streets in Cobble Hill, run belowground north to Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights before heading west underneath Borough Hall and connecting again with the highway at Navy Street.
Another tunnel option is building it directly under the existing BQE from Kane and Hicks streets in Cobble Hill to North Portland Avenue near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. After it is build, the existing highway would be taken down.
While this plan would have little impact on homes, it could drastically increase traffic on city streets. Vehicles would no longer be able to access the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges from the highway.
The third tunnel option is similar to the second. It would also begin and end roughly in the same locations, not require taking private land and force traffic on to city streets to access both East River bridges.
However, part of it calls for running directly under the Brooklyn Heights piers being used to build the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park, potentially causing problems for that project.
Before the eminent domain plan was pulled, a stakeholders advisory committee representing affected communities unanimously voted to support King’s recommendation.
The road project is slated to begin by 2020, following years of extensive public review.
The project would be first major rehabilitation of the BQE since it opened in 1954. Back then, master builder Robert Moses designed the highway’s triple cantilever underneath Brooklyn Heights after local activists defeated his earlier plan for the highway to run right through the heart of the neighborhood.
Related story:
Brooklyn Heights brownstones could be razed for revamped BQE (NY Post)