Wednesday, August 25, 2010
News
Will a Giant Tunnel Underneath Downtown Brooklyn Improve Traffic?
Posted
by Jonny Diamond
on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 1:32 PM

- A cheap and ready supply of labor among the children of Park Slope.
State transportation officials are
contemplating the construction of a two and a half mile tunnel stretching all the way from the South Slope to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Turns out segments of the infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway are literally falling apart, and the Dept. of Transportation is looking for solutions: the tunnel idea would de-clog the traffic-glutted BQE, providing a straight shot to North Brooklyn (represent) that would alleviate stress on the structure. If it happened, this project would become the longest traffic tunnel in America.
It's all very preliminary, at this point, but the tunnel idea is by far the best solution to addressing an increasingly decrepit BQE, especially when compared to the Moses-like plan to seize 500 private domains to allow for an expansion (that idea was scuppered, thankfully).
The best part about the tunnel idea is that it would render parts of the BQE redundant which, as some have suggested, could lead to a High Line-style park. That would rule.
Tags: BQE, Robert Moses, tunnel, traffic, Brooklyn's Big Dig