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COURIER LIFE, FEBRUARY 4-10, 2022 11
Tonnage sensors on BQE
will take a year: DOT
The Brooklyn Queens Expressway’s ailing triple-cantilever
section in Brooklyn Heights. File photo by Todd Maisel
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The city won’t start
using new sensors to
catch and fi ne illegallyoverweight
trucks on
the crumbling Brooklyn
Queens Expressway
until the end of the year,
according to the Department
of Transportation.
A bill in the state legislature
to launch a pilot
program for so-called
weigh-in-motion (WIM)
technology to be deployed
on the triple-cantilever
section around Brooklyn
Heights was signed
into law by Governor
Kathy Hochul on Dec. 22,
but DOT spokesperson
Vincent Barone told am-
NewYork Metro the new
system will be in place by
the end of this year.
“We are working to
begin our weight-in-motion
pilot on the Brooklyn
Queens Expressway
as soon as possible.
This critical project
will help preserve the
BQE’s triple cantilever
and advance our goals
for a more sustainable
freight network,” said
Barone in a statement.
Trucks cause outside
damage to the BQE
and curbing the heavy
haulers has become an
essential tool offi cials
hope to use to extend the
deteriorating highway’s
lifespan.
The head of the local
Brooklyn Heights
Association called on
DOT to put the pedal to
the metal on the project,
citing as a warning
the collapse of a bridge
in Pittsburgh Friday,
a structure that was 18
years younger than the
68-year-old BQE.
“Last week’s terrifying
bridge collapse in
Pittsburgh should have
caused everyone who understands
the condition
of the cantilever to lose
sleep. I urge DOT to move
as fast as possible on this
effort,” said the civic
group’s executive director
Lara Birnback. “Keeping
overweight trucks
off of the BQE Cantilever
should be one of DOT’s
most urgent priorities.”
Politicians have
pushed for WIM technology
on the BQE for at
least two years, and former
Mayor Bill de Blasio
in August included
the weight sensors as a
key part of his plan to
keep the BQE going for
another two decades until
offi cials fi gure out a
more longterm fi x.
According to an expert
panel convened by
de Blasio to study the
BQE in 2019, daily truck
traffi c was more than
15,000 out of 150,000 total
vehicles, and data
showed that 11.1 percent
of the heavy haulers exceeded
the 80,000-pound
legal limit, with some
weighing more than
double that amount.
The city agency has
60 days to get an agreement
with the state Department
of Transportation,
which controls
highways.
1-800-469-6292 (TTY 711)
H2168_MKT22-11_M
Long weight
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