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City Unveils Possible Routes for Streetcar in Brooklyn and Queens

A rendering of a proposed streetcar running on Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. According to the city’s plan, the street could become a “transitway” used primarily by streetcars and pedestrians.Credit...Parsons Brinckerhoff

As Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration moves forward on plans for a new streetcar line from Queens to Brooklyn, city officials on Tuesday unveiled the different routes they are considering for the project.

The $2.5 billion waterfront streetcar would run on streets in some of New York City’s most popular and crowded neighborhoods along the East River, including Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn. City officials plan to discuss the routes at community meetings over the next two months before selecting a path early next year.

Mr. de Blasio proposed the streetcar, known as the Brooklyn Queens Connector, in February, and now New Yorkers can see where exactly it might run and the potential impact on their neighborhoods. The streetcar line, which would travel about 16 miles from Astoria in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn, is the mayor’s most high-profile transportation priority and could open by 2024.

In a 25-page report on the routes, city officials outlined the benefits and drawbacks of using certain streets in each neighborhood, including the width of the road and how close the street is to subway lines for riders who want to transfer. Maps also show how the streetcar could travel over bridges to cross Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal — a potentially expensive part of the plan if new bridges are built.

“We now feel that it’s very important and a real inflection point in the process to lay out the options and get some feedback,” Alicia Glen, the city’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development, said in an interview.

Berry Street in Williamsburg, for example, could become a “transitway” used primarily by streetcars and pedestrians, according to a city rendering showing expanded sidewalks and a station with screens showing arrival information. The road would be closed to most vehicles with some street parking allowed, city officials said.

This summer, Adam Giambrone, a former chairman of the Toronto agency that runs North America’s largest streetcar system, was hired to lead the project. Mr. Giambrone said the route would have a dedicated lane in traffic as much as possible — an effort that could prompt anger among drivers over the loss of street space and parking.

Without their own lane, the streetcars would get stuck in traffic as buses currently do, Mr. Giambrone said.

“We are strongly leaning toward doing everything that’s practical to put this in a dedicated right of way,” he said.

Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, proposed the streetcar to connect a string of growing neighborhoods where, he said, rising real estate tax revenue could finance the system. Some transit advocates have questioned the usefulness of streetcars in other cities and have argued that a bus route with a dedicated lane could be a better move.

This month, city officials are planning to meet with community boards in Brooklyn and Queens to discuss the streetcar routes. The city could begin the project’s environmental review next year and construction in 2019.

In Downtown Brooklyn, the streetcar could run along Tillary Street before traveling south on Court Street, which the report notes has “excellent connections” to the subway. In Red Hook, Brooklyn, the line could run along Columbia Street or closer to the water along Van Brunt Street.

After examining where people live, the location of public utilities and possible subway connections, city officials are considering moving the line farther from the waterfront than originally imagined in some locations.

“It’s become increasingly clear to us that there are places where moving it further inland makes sense,” Ms. Glen said.

But Councilman Costa Constantinides, a Democrat whose district includes Astoria, said he wanted to make sure the streetcar served people who lived in so-called transit deserts near the waterfront, like the Astoria Houses, a public housing development.

“In the western part of my district, they can see Manhattan from their homes and yet it’s one of the longest commutes in the city, and into Brooklyn it’s even longer,” he said.

Mr. Constantinides said that he did not yet have a favorite route of the four proposed in Astoria, but that he was glad the mayor was thinking big on transportation.

“We’re going to make sure our community has a voice,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: City Puts Forth Possible Routes for Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar as Project Advances. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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