City Department of Transportation officials gave a rare look inside the structure supporting the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as they weigh construction options to replace the aging roadway.

Officials say the BQE span from Atlantic Avenue to Sands Street is in need of a major upgrade. They showed News 12 the beams and concrete walls underneath the expressway, with cracks in the concrete and rusting metal seemingly everywhere you look.

The current question for officials isn't so much whether to replace the highway, but how.

On Thursday, the DOT put out two proposals they're considering. One is a more traditional, lane-by-lane approach that would take longer. An alternative method would create a new temporary highway on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade while work is done on the existing highway. That would mean sacrificing one of the most popular attractions in the borough.

The DOT commissioner acknowledges that neither option is ideal but says something must be done.

The city will hold a series of workshops and town hall meetings over the next couple of months to gather public input.