Now, another plan aims to shrink a part of a traffic-choked roadway, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which was built in the 1940s. That section, a 1.5-mile stretch between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street in Brooklyn, would be downsized by a third.

[A novel plan to fix one of New York’s worst highways: Remove lanes.]

I spoke with my colleague Winnie Hu, who covers transportation and infrastructure, about how the potential changes could affect commuters.

Winnie, tell me about what’s happening with the B.Q.E.

The B.Q.E. was never built for all this traffic. It is crumbling under the weight of 153,000 cars and trucks a day, and the expected cost of repairing the 1.5-mile section of the expressway will be more than $1.7 billion. That’s going to be one of the most expensive infrastructure projects the city’s Transportation Department has ever taken on.

The mayor appointed a panel to come up with a rescue plan, which was released yesterday. One of the key recommendations is to go to four traffic lanes, from six, on the stretch. The panel is hoping that if the city reduces the number of cars and trucks, it will be able to extend the remaining life of this highway and make it safer.