THE TRI-LINE PLAN

What does the Tri-Line Plan accomplish?

  • Eliminates BQE noise and air pollution from adjacent residential neighborhoods and from Brooklyn Bridge Park
  • Fixes the BQE to Federal Highway Standards, while reducing the intrusion of cars and trucks into our city, and increasing reliance on bikes and other alternative modes of transportation. 
  • Preserves the Promenade
    • The Promenade remains as is and is never closed or altered
    • Historic structure permanently preserved
  • Adds over 8 acres of space to Brooklyn Bridge Park

What is the Tri-Line Plan?

  • Relocate the BQE as it passes along Brooklyn Bridge Park on the Triple Cantilever to a new road at ground level in the bed of Furman Street 
  • The new BQE is covered with a box structure that contains the noise and air pollution of the road, allowing the pollutants to be collected and treated.
  • The new BQE is its box is covered with soil and other improvements so that park visitors can easily climb on and over it to the lowest level of the Triple Cantilever.
  • As a result the BQE is buried and is not seen as it passes by the Park and is completely covered, extending the Park up to the Triple Cantilever along its entire length. 

When construction of the new BQE is complete, move the highway traffic to it and off of the Triple Cantilever.  The Triple Cantilever will then begin its new role as the “Tri-Line” of Brooklyn Bridge Park

The South and Northbound Levels of the Triple Cantilever

  • These levels will be converted to linear parks, such as at the Highline Park in Manhattan. These linear parks, each 1,880 feet in length and over two acres in space, will contain  gardens, walking paths, seating, bike lanes, exercise space and equipment, such as climbing walls, etc.
  • These levels will be connected to each other, to the Promenade above and to the Park below, through stairways, escalators, elevators and slides (and anything else the designers come up with) improving access to the Park from Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn.
  • The Triple Cantilever will become part of Brooklyn Bridge Park -the “cliffs” of Brooklyn Bridge Park overlooking the Park, the Harbor and the Skyline of Manhattan

The Reconstruction of the BQE
from the Remsen Street South to Atlantic

  • Remove the ramps to the triple cantilever from Remsen Street to Atlantic Avenue.
  • If possible, entrench the BQE in this section (as it is entrenched further south in Cobble Hill) and cover the trench, providing grade level access to the Park at Joralemon Street and Atlantic Avenue and eliminating the overpass at Atlantic Avenue
  • If entrenchment is not possible, build a new elevated BQE in this section at approximately the same level as the current BQE


North of the Triple Cantilever

  • Connect the new BQE to the ramps through the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Put the new BQE in a covered box in this segment as well and connect the North Heights to the Dog Park across the new covered BQE.
Route of the new permanent replacement BQE along the current Furman Street. The replacement BQE will be covered by a box 100 feet wide which will extend into the current Park by about 50 feet, but covered so that Park visitors can seamlessly walk up from the Park, over the box and onto the first level of the Triple Cantilever


The lower two levels of the BQE shown here are turned into linear parks. The top level Promenade is preserved. The new BQE will sit in its berm covered box below the first level of the Triple Cantilever.