Join NYC DOT’s Round 3 of Community Workshops 10/30 & 11/2
The NYC Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) invites the community to participate in BQE North Workshop 3 on October 30 or November 2. The workshop on October 30 is held in person and scheduled for two hours starting at 6:30 p.m. at Swinging Sixties Older Adult Center (211 Ainslie Street). The workshop on November 2 will also be two hours starting at 6:30 p.m., but it will be hosted online.
This NYC DOT renovation project called BQE Corridor Vision seeks community insight on ways to improve the BQE and its surroundings. The first round of workshops for BQE North workshops were offered in November 2022, and the second round was held in late March 2023. As reported in February 2023’s issue of GREENLINE the public can comment on how to manage traffic (alternate routes for frieght?), the highway’s size, City-owned adjacent streets and adjacent areas, among other things.
This next round of workshops is meant to refine design ideas already presented through an initial survey and the two previous workshops. The last workshop discussed all the ideas that the NYC DOT has heard from the community and what the design process will look like moving forward. Of the initial survey results from 2,600 respondents the most were from Greenpoint. The top priority selected from all the respondents was reducing traffic congestion.
Some aspects of the project have already been planned by the NYC DOT for 2023. These include street improvements in our community on McGuinness Boulevard and Meeker Avenue and creating safer routes to schools on Marcy Avenue and Williamsburg Street West.
The NYC DOT’s presented vision is to reconnect communities, enhance multi-functional sustainable infrastructure, provide connection for opportunities and goods, and connect people and communities. All of this while balancing both local and regional needs.
In the last meeting, the NYC DOT presented a “BQE Corridor Vision Toolbox.” This includes three different ways that the surrounding streets of the BQE can act as connectors. There were three different kinds of connectors presented: Community Connectors which create gathering spaces like markets and concerts, Green Connectors such as parks, and Multi-Modal Connectors which provide other modes of transportation like bike lanes, bus lanes, e-bikes, and charging stations.
After the third BQE North workshop, the last and final step will be creating the BQE vision report. The BQE Central is ahead of BQE North in this process and they had their third workshop in February 2023. The contents of this workshop may lend some insight into what to expect for the BQE North.
After reviewing what had been discussed in the previous workshop, the NYC DOT discussed the practical implications of the projects more in-depth. This included how they would either create a bypass or divert traffic during construction, conduct a full replacement or partial replacement of the roads, and what the engineering process would look like.
Additionally, the BQE Central’s third workshop presented more refined design concepts for community review and discussion. Then, presented the tradeoffs of each of these concepts.
Brooklyn officials have expressed the importance of changing the BQE, specifically the environmental and health risks that it has on the community. Even if you haven’t participated in previous workshops, the upcoming discussions will be a great opportunity to learn more.
BQE North Workshop 3: Monday, October 30, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. at the Swinging Sixties Older Adult Center (211 Ainslie Street) , and Thursday, November 2, 6:30 p.m. online. To sign up for the online workshop go to: bit.ly/BQENorth11-2.
The Greenline 