CITYWIDE — THE LONG-AWAITED INTERBOROUGH EXPRESS (IBX) between Brooklyn and Queens has advanced from the planning to the engineering and design stage, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday, Aug. 1. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board on Wednesday authorized the selection of a joint venture between Jacobs and HDR as the team that will oversee the IBX’s design and engineering phase, a step representing major progress for the project. The IBX will connect historically underserved communities in Brooklyn and Queens to the subway, bus and Long Island Rail Road. The existing 14-mile freight line will be transformed, with the route’s end-to-end run time of 32 minutes expected to significantly reduce travel times between Brooklyn and Queens. Some of the neighborhoods in the…..