We're just a bit north of Queens Boulevard (Commonly abbreviated on signs as Blvd), in the midst of the last section of the BQE to open in the early 1960s, at the border of the Woodside and Jackson Heights neighborhoods. Despite being of late 50's-early 60's vintage, this section is hardly any safer than the Triborough Bridge 1930s era vintage Astoria section that follows it. It's a non stop obstacle course of twists and turns, with the menacing concrete retaining walls always inches away from the right lanes. While not making for the safest of drives, however, the whipsaw curves did make for more interesting photographs. At the time I shot this in June 1998, the entire stretch from Woodside to Astoria, both the ancient original bridge access road and its 1960s extension, were due for a major rebuilding project that began in early 1999. These overpasses were among the only ones left within NYC not to have cyclone fencing to prevent crazies from lobbing heavy objects onto motorists below. Note the design differences in the erect guard rails along the overpasses as compared to the concave rails at 65th Place.

Today the scene is wildly different. For one, Exit 37, which led to Roosevelt Avenue a block past 41st, no longer exists and this unusually wide and airy looking sliver of the otherwise closed in open cut Brooklyn Queens Expressway is arguably now the most claustrophobic section of the highway. The walls look like they are literally closing in on you as you near Exit 37's replacement to Roosevelt Avenue, Exit 40 which is really the exit to Broadway, the next big thoroughfare after Roosevelt. Now traffic headed for the IRT covered Roosevelt Avenue must go blocks out of the way to backtrack to it from Broadway. The graceful looking steel beam overpass and its guard rails are also history, as are the SLECO "Bigloop" lamp posts in the center median. The current overpasses just stretch from one wall to the other and are fairly hideous looking concrete faced affairs, with the cross street names etched into them. To look at the Google Earth photos you'd think you were looking at a dingy, aged sunken highway from the 1930s, but that's the Back to the Future BQE for ya.