As Brooklyn grapples with how to make the BQE less soul destroying, we've seen some wacky proposals coming out of neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill on how to improve the highway. Here's one that state transportation officials are reportedly actually considering: a 2.5-mile-long tunnel underneath the brownstone 'hoods and Downtown Brooklyn, connecting the Prospect Expressway to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This feat of engineering was first proposed by a Cobble Hill resident with no experience whatsoever. Hey, it's not like this crap's complicated or anything!
Other tunnel configurations are being considered, and of course any tunnel talk is premature, but what would happen to the much-maligned BQE triple cantilever below the Brooklyn Heights Promenade? It could be turned into the "local" to the tunnel's "express," but one architect participating in the state-sponsored design workshops has a better idea: give it to the people! To frolic upon! "The High Line could certainly be a model," he says, but rusty old train tracks will always be more stylish than asphalt.
· Pipe dream! State is considering long tunnel to bypass BQE [YourNabe]
· BQE coverage [Curbed]
UPDATE: The Brooklyn Paper version of the story has this graphic showing the proposed tunnel's path:
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