BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- As construction continues on the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) this weekend to address the highway’s deteriorating conditions, residents who live along the highway are calling on the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) to address several issues that impact them.
Betty Bernhart is a longtime Red Hook resident who says her ongoing struggles with asthma have been exacerbated by the onslaught of pollution coming from the bustling BQE.
“I have asthma so it's like right now I'm here, I don't have my pump, but I feel my chest is tight,” Bernhart said.
An estimated 130,000 cars and trucks traverse the highway daily, according to the NYCDOT, which also causes an influx of traffic in the surrounding area. Bernhart and dozens of other Brooklynites who live along the BQE rallied Wednesday, speaking out about the highway's impact on their quality of life.
The Brooklyn-Queens Environmental Justice Coalition is calling for community led-solutions like a green space that would implement traffic calming measures.
As the NYCDOT continues work on the highway's crumbling cantilevers, local leaders are hoping transportation officials will also work to reimagine the BQE in a way that benefits the community.
"That work gives us a little more faith that the roadway is stable and usable while we do the hard work of figuring out, how do we take this crazy environment and make it better for everybody,” questioned Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon.
NYCDOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said long-term initiatives are in the works.
"One is called the Blue Highway that has invited the private industry to put planned proposals on how we can move some of those deliveries from truck to boat,” said Rodriguez.
According to the NYCDOT, input has been collected from thousands of New Yorkers so far and the agency is willing to make necessary changes based on that feedback about the future of the BQE.
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