Has anyone noticed an increase in congestion since the right lane on the BQE has been converted into a shoulder lane? I would expect a freeway being narrowed from six to four lanes would see a significant increase in congestion, especially in a place like New York City.
From what I've heard, that area is quite congested, and Google Maps certainly shows this. Stop and go at all hours of the day. I went through there at 9 AM on a Sunday morning (on a holiday weekend, so probably even less traffic than normal) and it was already stop and go, just from congestion. It's basically an area to avoid at all times, even when the rest of the city (yes, including the Cross-Bronx) is at free flow.
Honestly, as much as I don't want to see the freeway removed, it might actually move better if it were, if only because that might convince people to not go there.
Remove an already super congested freeway? I’ll counter that nonsense with the same saying we should widen the thing to ten lanes each way.
Realistically, that corridor isn't going to be solved without convincing at least half the cars on it to either shift to other modes, drive to different destinations or via a significantly different route, or to stay home entirely, especially given the NIMBYs and BANANAs in the area. I think the only option retaining anything resembling a freeway that the locals and the Vision Zero/climate activists were happy with was the one where it would be a four-lane (total), truck-only tunnel with passenger cars forced on a boulevard.
I don't support a removal of the BQE myself, but clearly what's there is horrifically congested, and I put the chances of a new or expanded facility as iffy at best. It would be very expensive and it the political support would seem to not be there.
I wonder to what extent congestion pricing will have on some of this.
A good percentage of the traffic on the BQE is headed to Manhattan. Yes, this is north of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but there is a significant amount of traffic that would be headed to Manhattan via the currently free bridges that are on this stretch. If the congestion pricing comes in to effectively charge drivers the same to reach Manhattan if they take the Battery Tunnel or if they take the bridges, then I can assume that some of that traffic will head for the Battery Tunnel, leaving more room for the rest of traffic.
I do understand that most of the traffic here is not going to Manhattan but probably just heading to northern Brooklyn or Queens or towards the I-87 and I-95 corridors to Upstate and New England, but perhaps enough of the Manhattan traffic can be diverted to make the BQE tolerable for the rest of the traffic.