Brooklyn, NY– NYC DOT has informed local elected officials that the BQE Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) project is significantly delayed. WIM is a first-in-the-nation automatic enforcement mechanism to fine illegally overweight trucks on the dangerously deteriorating triple-cantilevered portion of the BQE (I-278) using WIM technology.

In 2021, New York State legislators (Simon/Kavanagh) – at the request of NYC Department of Transportation – secured the passage of the WIM legislation A2316/S2740. Sensors in the roadway weigh and photograph illegally overweight trucks along the route and issue hefty fines to deter the use of these trucks. This effort was strongly supported by the community and other elected officials. 

In response to the delay, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Congressman Dan Goldman, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Council Member Lincoln Restler made the following statement:

“Every day, overweight trucks illegally barrel along the BQE triple cantilever, accelerating the demise of this rapidly crumbling structure and adding significantly to air pollution. Approximately 11% of the trucks on the BQE every day are estimated to exceed the 40-ton weight limit.

Now, after a year of anticipating a January 2023 roll out of WIM and being told by DOT that the program was on schedule, we were just informed that DOT has not yet completed the sensor installation. Even more troubling is that DOT also just informed us that federal calibration standards do not yet encompass the new technology that WIM uses, thus significantly delaying the WIM implementation until such an adjustment can be made. 

NYC DOT needs to expeditiously work to get WIM in place, and immediately accelerate investments to preserve this faltering structure before it is too late. This includes safety and remedial measures that the City committed to taking, but has since postponed, such as waterproofing roadway joints on the cantilever.

As we embark on what will undoubtedly be a long and complicated process to improve and re-imagine the entire BQE corridor, we want the public to know that we are deeply concerned about this delay, and we are doing everything we can to keep communities safe.”