Image Credit: NYC DOT
On August 7, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the launch of an automated enforcement program for overweight trucks on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE). Transportation’s analysis has identified nearly ten percent of all trucks on the BQE as overweight, which can further add to the ongoing structural issues the BQE has experienced over the past few decades.
The program will use “weigh-in-motion” sensors to determine a vehicle’s weight and sync with license plate cameras to give citations to overweight trucks in accordance with state law. The program will begin for Queens-bound traffic with a 90-day warning period starting today, August 10th. Starting November 8th, overweight trucks will be subject to a $650 fine for each violation. Sensors for Staten Island-bound traffic will be installed later this year.
Transportation will be partnering with the trucking industry to educate truck operators about the new program to prevent and discourage drivers with overweight trucks from taking the BQE at all.
Transportation is currently working with local communities through two initiatives. Through BQE Central, the city-owned structure from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street will continue to be repaired. In the BQE North and South project, the City will identify upgrades for the other segments of the BQE corridor. There will continue to be safety monitoring, including of the triple cantilever.
U.S. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez stated, “The BQE is a Robert Moses-era relic in need of forward-thinking 21st-century solutions. As we work to reimagine the BQE, we must protect the existing highway from further deterioration and hazards. This new, first-in-the-nation automated enforcement of truck weight limits will hold overweight trucks accountable and protect our communities and infrastructure.”
Transportation Commissioner Rodriguez stated, “Overweight trucks cause wear and tear that requires costly maintenance and reduces the lifespan of our roads and bridges. We need to keep overweight trucks off our streets, and New York City is leading on this with the first-in-the-nation automated weigh-in-motion enforcement system to issue violations to those who break the law.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)