The long-awaited Interborough Express between Brooklyn and Queens has advanced from the planning stage to the engineering and design phase, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board authorized the selection of a joint venture between Jacobs and HDR engineering firms as the team that will oversee the IBX’s design and engineering phase. That step represents major progress for the project, which 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 reduce travel times between Brooklyn and Queens significantly. Some of the neighborhoods in the transit desert that the IBX will serve include Borough Park, Sunset Park and East Flatbush.
In May, Hochul announced that ground could soon be broken when she signed legislation that was part of the state’s Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget and is considered the largest investment in New York State’s transportation history…