A proposal to build a Cross Downtown Brooklyn Tunnel, an idea studied by the state in 2010, is sparking new interest.

As the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street faces a massive, $3.4 billion reconstruction, a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity has opened, says longtime Cobble Hill community leader and graphic designer Roy Sloane. Sloane came up with the tunnel concept at a planning session in June 2010.

Sloane, former president of the Cobble Hill Association, is the first to admit he is not an engineer. He was, however, a member of the original Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Advisory Committee and the longest-serving citizen member of the Community Board 6 transportation committee.

A roughly 3-mile-long tunnel, running from the Gowanus Expressway vicinity near the intersection of Fourth Avenue and the Prospect Expressway in the south to Flushing Avenue at the north end, would cut travel time from Gowanus to the Brooklyn Navy Yard by 10 to 30 minutes per trip, Sloane says. It would handle truck traffic bypassing local streets, and much of the cost of constructing and maintaining the tunnel would be borne by roadway users. The tunnel would be tolled, and construction could be financed with bonds. Read full article: https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/02/25/cross-downtown-brooklyn-tunnel-idea-revived-as-bqe-solution/