Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
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The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) is an expressway which runs from southern Brooklyn, New York to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York. It is a portion of Interstate 278.
The highway is mainly elevated in Brooklyn, with some open-cut sections. In Queens, the highway is a mix of elevated, open-cut and at-grade sections. The BQE was built from the 1950s, and was completed in 1964 as a crowning achievement of Robert Moses, who still sparks debate today. The part that passes over the Gowanus Canal leading to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, as well as its southern extension to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, is known as the Gowanus Expressway.
A section along the harbor in downtown Brooklyn is partially covered to create the Brooklyn Promenade.
North of downtown Brooklyn, it passes through the Williamsburg neighborhood, then crosses Newtown Creek to Queens on the Kosciuszko Bridge.
Motorists who drive the BQE know that it can be hard to find an entrance onto the elevated highway from Brooklyn side streets. This fact was demonstrated in the 1990 movie, Quick Change, starring Bill Murray, in which Murray robs a Manhattan bank disguised as a circus clown. Murray and his cohorts escape from Manhattan in their getaway car, only to take the wrong turn from the BQE — they find it impossible to get back on. Murray finds a sign reading "To I-278," but the arrow at the bottom of the sign rotates around, and around. The Brooklyn Queens Expressway is infamous for traffic during both rush hours.
The BQE is referred to in the song 'Rusty The Skatemaker' by the alternative rock band Rasputina who began in Brooklyn, New York in 1992.
[edit] Exit list
| Exit | Destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Continues from the Gowanus Expressway | ||
| 27 | Atlantic Avenue | |
| 28A | Cadman Plaza West | eastbound only |
| 28B | Brooklyn Bridge | eastbound only |
| (28A/28B combined into single exit 28 westbound) | ||
| 29A | Manhattan Bridge | eastbound only |
| 29B | Tillary Street | eastbound only |
| (29A/29B combined into single exit 29 westbound) | ||
| 30 | Flushing Avenue | eastbound only |
| 31 | Wythe Avenue/Kent Avenue | westbound only |
| 32A | Williamsburg Bridge | westbound only |
| 32B | Metropolitan Avenue | westbound only |
| (32A/32B combined into single exit 32 eastbound) | ||
| 33 | McGuinness Boulevard/Humboldt Street | eastbound only |
| 34 | Meeker Avenue/Morgan Avenue | westbound only |
| Traverses the Kosciuszko Bridge into the Borough of Queens | ||
| 35E/W | I-495 - Long Island Expressway | 35E to Riverhead, 35W to Manhattan via Queens-Midtown Tunnel |
| 35A | 48 Street | eastbound only, accessible through Exit 35. |
| 39E/W | NY 25 - Queens Boulevard | 39E to Elmhurst, 39W to Queensboro Bridge and Manhattan |
| 40 | Roosevelt Avenue/Broadway | |
| 41 | NY 25A - Northern Boulevard | |
| 42 | Grand Central Parkway East to LaGuardia Airport | eastbound only |
| Going eastbound, the BQE divides into two "legs" at Exit 42. The western leg (continuing the I-278 designation) eventually becomes the Grand Central Parkway westbound and traverses the Triboro Bridge. The eastern leg becomes the Grand Central Parkway eastbound and provides access to LaGuardia Airport. | ||
| 43 | 30th Avenue | westbound only; exit from eastern leg of the BQE only |
| 44 | Astoria Boulevard | westbound only; exit from western leg of the BQE only |
| Becomes the Grand Central Parkway | ||
