After Unanimous Vote, BQX Streetcar Advances To Next Phase

QUEENS, NY - A $2.7 billion plan for a streetcar connecting Brooklyn and Queens, known as the BQX, will advance to the next phase. The executive committee of the city's Economic Development Corp. unanimously approved a contract Wednesday for a consultant to oversee the streetcar's environmental review.

The $7.25 million contract was awarded to civil engineering firm VHB to assess the environmental impacts of the planned 11-mile route from Astoria to Red Hook and Gowanus.

"These steps show meaningful progress for the project," Jessica Schumer, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, said in a statement. "As the city grapples with a transit crisis, now is the moment for it to take control of its mass transit destiny and expand access wherever it can."

The environmental review would be complete in spring 2020, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen told the Wall Street Journal, and the next planning stage, a land-use review, would be complete by the end of 2021.

“Today’s EDC announcement is a critical step forward for the BQX project and the thousands of New Yorkers who stand to benefit from increased transit access in their neighborhood," Tom Wright, president of the influential nonprofit Regional Plan Association, said in a statement.

"The BQX has the potential to connect areas of Brooklyn and Queens that have never been accessible by public transit before, create new jobs and build a forward-thinking system that serves current residents and withstands growing capacity to the region.”

The streetcar is estimated to generate $30 billion in gross economic impact over 40 years, according to the Economic Development Corp.

(Lead photo by Kathleen Culliton/Patch)