Grand Plans for Brooklyn’s Iconic Public Space

In all of the uproar over DOT's various transportation proposals for Park Slope last month (One Way? No Way! and 9th Street) this Grand Army Plaza project managed to slip beneath the radar. That's too bad because it's a really thoughtful and detailed piece of planning work that will help connect neighborhoods and improve the pedestrian and cyclist experience of Brooklyn's most iconic public space (see slides 9 and 10 for a quick overview). And while DOT is, unfortunately, loath to acknowledge that it is actually responding to a community, this plan seems to do a really good job of answering many of the concerns raised by the Grand Army Plaza Coalition community planning process (see the StreetFilm). Grand Army Plaza still has a long way to go but this is a nice start.

The DOT plan highlights include:

• Closing unused roads during weekend hours
• 2,300 square feet of new landscaping
• Removing a travel lane on Eastern Parkway
• Providing a Class 1 bike facility through Grand Army Plaza
• Five new crosswalks providing access to Prospect Park and the Arch
• Eliminating one auto lane east of the arch

DOT presented this plan to Community Board 6 in March. They voted unanimously to support it.