Wednesday, November 30, 2011
News State and Federal Transpo Officials Pull Funding from Bare Bones BQE Fix
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Remember how in April we were all like, "well, there's a $20 billion proposal to put the BQE underground from Sunset Park to Greenpoint, and a $2 billion version where it goes underground from Brooklyn Heights to Fort Greene, and even though state and federal transportation officials probably won't do either at least they'll pony up a couple hundred million for minor fixes"? Well, now they won't even do that; state and federal transportation officials have just rescinded $254 million in funding for crucial (though cosmetic) repairs to the 160,000-cars-per-day triple-cantilevered stretch beneath the Brooklyn Heights promenade.
This 1.5-mile stretch of the BQE, which has already outlived its intended lifespan by two decades, has long been due for a major reconstruction—as the Brooklyn Paper notes, it even "currently fails to meet federal highway standards." Yet federal and state transportation officials saw fit to cancel even the simplest and least costly repairs to the BQE and the four-mile Gowanus Expressway just to the south.
Canceling the repair plans yesterday, federal and state transportation officials "said they would make piecemeal repairs instead." Presumably those weren't the same state transportation officials who, in 2009, said that, barring major repairs, the roadway would only hold together another 10 to 15 years before its condition rapidly declines.
So that's good news for those of us who feared a Boston-style Big Dig, but terrible news for anyone who cares about quality of life, road safety and urban design.
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As in, crucial to keeping the cantilevered segment from collapsing in 15 years, but cosmetic in that it does nothing to modify the BQE's route through the middle of multiple neighborhoods.
that's like calling a heart transplant crucial but cosmetic....just replacing the old one, but not making any changes....ben....choose your phrases a bit better.
@teegee11220: Haha, is that really what it's like? I dunno, a heart transplant sounds like a pretty substantial change to me. Thanks for the advice though.
cos·met·ic [koz-met-ik]
noun
- superficial measures to make something appear better, more attractive, or more impressive: The budget committee opted for cosmetics instead of a serious urban renewal plan.
adjective
- serving to beautify; imparting or improving beauty, especially of the face.
- used or done superficially to make something look better, more attractive, or more impressive: Alterations in the concert hall were only cosmetic and did nothing to improve the acoustics.
Cosmetic was not the right word, hence the confusion.
