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ObjectivePitiful1170 t1_japo3su wrote

Reply to comment by ThreeLittlePuigs in SHOCKER: Mayor's private BQE meeting could divide Brooklyn politicians by psychothumbs

It did! There is less stress on infrastructure by weight, so perhaps it won't collapse killing hundreds before the electeds decide to fix it.

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ThreeLittlePuigs t1_japomdh wrote

Is it really less weight when cars are just parked on it basically all the time? I’m not physicist so have no clue, but I’m guessing the reduced lane makes up for the increased average duration of car there?

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doodle77 t1_jar1fqy wrote

Traffic moves slightly faster than before in the 2 lane section. The queue is before that section in both directions.

https://marcel.dejean.nyc/bqe/

Besides, the engineering assumption is that the entire highway will be loaded bumper-to-bumper with maximum weight minimum length trucks.

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Grass8989 t1_japqet8 wrote

I doubt it’s making a noticeable difference, like you said, 18 wheelers are just sitting in stop and go traffic on the cantilever section way more than they did when it was 3 lanes. Atleast they used to only be on it for a brief period of time (barring any accident of construction).

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ThreeLittlePuigs t1_japqu9o wrote

Yeah I literally have no clue. I feel like that’s an easy question for a structural engineer or likely someone better at high school physics than my dumb ass

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don-mage t1_jaqmcth wrote

Did they close the outer most lane? If so, weight on the farthest end of the cantilever will induce more moment and stress on the support.

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kwyjibo555 t1_jas4jag wrote

They technically closed it, but practically it's still a driving lane to countless cars that use it as a lane still because of 0 enforcement

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Grass8989 t1_japslze wrote

Indeed, not sure why they’re dragging their feet repairing it.

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b1argg t1_jargm0f wrote

The cantilever section itself moves pretty well because it's after the bottleneck caused by the reduction. The backups are before the cantilever.

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ZeePM t1_jare1kl wrote

It’s less weight on the outer most lane which reduces the stress on the support. The road acts like a lever in that section. Hold a stick out and hang a shopping bag with a can of soup in it. As you move the bag further out it gets heavier.

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elprophet t1_jarkibo wrote

I would say it gets "torqueir" rather than heavier, but either way lots more stress. Reducing that to two lanes with no other changes will extend the useful lifespan significantly. Going back to three lanes will kill people when it collapses.

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b1argg t1_jargfu1 wrote

The weight concern was specifically on the cantilever section which is crumbling and heading to collapse without major rehabilitation/reconstruction. The weight of the traffic backups on the other sections aren't an issue (or are much less of an issue)

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[deleted] t1_jardzyp wrote

[deleted]

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ThreeLittlePuigs t1_jarfhkg wrote

Oh boy, I’ve gotten some straightforward answers that have made me think this is pretty settled science. Are you telling me it’s more complex?

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b1argg t1_jarg5xn wrote

Yeah it was an emergency move to buy time to pass the political football and kick the can down the road. The reduction caused other problems, such as creating an artificial bottleneck resulting in massive traffic backups. It was always meant to be temporary.

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yakofnyc t1_jas4viu wrote

> resulting in massive traffic backups

Too many cars using the roads at the same time is what causes massive traffic backups. Add 6 new lanes and you'll still have massive traffic backups, as we see in LA. The solution to massive traffic backups is improved alternatives to driving, and more disincentives to driving such as congestion pricing.

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decafcovfefes t1_jas7khd wrote

This. You really want to solve traffic on the BQE? Limit it to freight/business vehicles, taxi/uber, and emergency vehicles during peak hours. 80% of the cars I see entering the BQE at Atlantic during the morning rush are driver-only commuters who would be better served by a mass-trans solution.

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b1argg t1_jasqug7 wrote

What about Queens and Brooklyn residents traveling somewhere outside the city? The BQE leads to the Verrazano

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TeamMisha t1_jatbcyp wrote

We truthfully can't accommodate every single trip, so there may not be an answer you or others like unfortunately to this question. There's still an entire network of roads to drive wherever you want, so would it be impossible, no, could it take longer depending where you are coming from? Yes. I am sure there are residents all over the place who would want a better route to their out of city destination but that's just not possible. I myself for example wish I didn't tend to take Ubers to certain transit routes due to the annoyance of getting to the station, but I know that's just how it is due to where I chose to live.

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b1argg t1_jaudxah wrote

All I'm saying is that they shouldn't reduce the number of existing lanes

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Jimmy_kong253 t1_jaqgoh4 wrote

If they make it wider I would hope they have half a brain and example the weight bearing aspect as well

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TeamMisha t1_jatbgm6 wrote

Proposed plans for reconstruction will completely remove the cantilever and build in-place a simple box structure to support the roadways. Much easier and simpler to maintain and weight is less of a concern.

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