NYC’s Crumbling Infrastructure: The Future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Beyond

New York City, like many major U.S. Cities, faces a critical infrastructure challenge: aging highways built in the mid-20th century. These structures, originally designed for a different era of transportation, are now showing their age and require difficult decisions – repair, replace, or even remove.

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) Triple Cantilever

One of the most pressing cases in New York is the 0.4-mile section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway known as the triple cantilever, located along the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. Once lauded as an architectural achievement, it now requires ongoing short-term fixes as the city grapples with a long-term solution. “Something has to be done, right? Doing nothing is not an option,” said Ian Coss, creator of the “Big Dig” podcast, discussing the challenges of large-scale infrastructure projects.

Lessons from the “Big Dig”

The “Big Dig” in Boston, a project to replace an elevated highway with an underground tunnel, serves as a cautionary tale. Completed over two decades at a cost of nearly $15 billion, it became the most expensive highway project in U.S. History. Seattle officials, learning from Boston’s experience, specifically requested to avoid a similar undertaking, according to Coss.

Current Plans for the BQE

Under former Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) presented 13 options for addressing the triple cantilever. Two years were spent gathering public feedback, including ideas for a broader overhaul of the highway stretching from the Kosciuszko Bridge in Queens to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn. Rodriguez warned that without significant action, “we will need to undertake disruptive, large-scale and expensive annual repairs and face potential operational changes to the highway.”

Current Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn has stated that major work must be undertaken by the end of the decade to prevent the need to divert truck traffic onto local streets. The DOT is now deciding whether to proceed with an environmental review based on the Adams administration’s proposals or to pursue a long-term rehabilitation plan. “We will not kick the can down the road,” Flynn said.

Yankee Stadium Elevator Updates

In other city transportation news, the MTA reports that five elevators at Yankee Stadium, currently out of service for replacement, are expected to be operational by spring 2026, ideally before the Yankees’ home opener on April 3. This is part of a larger effort to make 14 subway stations ADA-compliant by 2050, driven by a class-action settlement.