Design Build

After months of rallies, letter writing, and trips to Albany to personally lobby legislators, we are happy to report that in late March, the New York State legislature included language in the official state budget that allows the BQE – Atlantic to Sands Project to proceed using Design-Build. Both houses of the legislature passed the budget bill on March 30th – and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the provision into state law on April 12, 2018.

“We are grateful that the State has provided NYCDOT the ability to use Design Build for one of the largest and most complex bridge rehabilitation projects we have ever undertaken,” said NYCDOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “Using Design-Build for the $1.7 billion BQE project will save us time and taxpayer dollars. We are so grateful to the bill’s original sponsors -- Assembly Members Michael Benedetto and Robert Rodriguez, State Senators Martin Golden and Andrew Lanza -- and acknowledge the hard work of Senator Brian Kavanagh, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and former Senator Dan Squadron. We also thank our many labor and industry partners — including the NYC Partnership, the NY Building Congress, the trucking and contractors’ associations and ACEC. The collective effort of local advocates, including the Brooklyn Heights Association, effectively galvanized a powerful citywide group of public supporters, including Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other critical allies in the Council.”

“We recognize we have a lot of hard work ahead with the BQE project and plan to draw upon the expertise of our industry partners and our colleagues at New York State DOT. We ask the community to stay tuned for details as this project moves forward.”