DOT Shows Off Grand Concourse Improvements

Lou Gehrig Plaza: No longer a parking lot for Bronx County Courthouse employees.

Bronx electeds joined DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan yesterday to mark a completed round of ped-bike enhancements to the Grand Concourse and 161st Street. The package includes the newly ped-friendly Lou Gehrig Plaza (in front of the Bronx County Courthouse), and wider medians and bike lanes along one section of the Concourse. The project was launched in early 2006, while Iris Weinshall was in charge at DOT.

When Streetsblog posted photos of the nearly-finished courthouse plaza back in April, it was welcomed as a corrective to the rampant government employee parking that had taken over the space, while some readers questioned whether the design would truly invite public use. The plaza's been there for a few months now -- if you've had a chance to observe this place close up, tell us how you like it.

Follow the jump for a before shot of the plaza and plans of the new street geometry on the Concourse.

Here's the plaza back when it was a parking free-for-all.

For a larger version of this image, go to page 26 of this PDF.

Images: NYCDOT