See renderings of the new proposed public spaces below the BQE

Earlier this week, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) published a report that includes a proposal to convert the areas under the BQE in Fort Greene into usable public spaces, specifically turning the section of Park Avenue into a hub where delivery workers will be able to store their vehicles and charge their e-bikes. 

The report, which you can read in full right here, includes a slew of other potential changes, like a plan to cover the trenched sections of the BQE (highway portions that are dug into the ground) in Bay Ridge, Carroll Gardens and Williamsburg with newly built parks to transform the neighborhoods and improve community access to green spaces.

The 154-page document acknowledges the importance of the BQE when it comes to mobility and traffic patterns, but it also points out how the highway negatively impacts citizens’ quality of life in the area. 

“The BQE’s infrastructure has come at the expense of communities and neighborhoods alongside the highway: it acts as a physical barrier, divides neighborhoods and limits connections for pedestrians and bicyclists,” reads the report. “The highway poses challenges to the safety, accessibility and environment of the communities it traverses.”

Given the extent of the proposal, funding needs and red tape processes, it is still unclear which part of the guidelines officials will take on and when. As of now, according to Gothamist, you can expect them to “tap into a $5.6 million federal grant to further study the proposals in the report before moving forward with any ambitious redesigns.”

It might take years, but it’s nice to see that those in charge are aware of locals’ needs for well maintained public spaces. Cheers to eventually getting things done.