Comments on: Pedestrian-Friendly Changes for Grand Army Plaza

By: Bugg

Bugg — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 03:03:42 +0000

This is well-intentioned, but you guys have to understand-the vehicle traffic has to go somehwere. In this blog there's also advocacy for turning nearby Atlantic Avenue into a pedestrian walkway. Further, the closing of the park merely forces traffic into the streets around the park. Point being you cannot have everything. How about prioritizing which adjustments have the most benefits and which the least fot car traffic, pedestrians and bikers? One big objection-traffic circles in the Boston area are accident prone- a bad idea.

By: BikeMom

BikeMom — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:29:50 +0000

Eric -- why are you trying to cycle in the crosswalk there? If you want to go that way, you should get off and walk (especially if it's crowded.)

But, really, if you're trying to go to Eastern Parkway or Plaza St. from the Park, there's plenty of pavement for cycling north of the cement island in question. (See the paint striped area in the photo at the top of this page.)

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:39:52 +0000

I'm all for improving pedestrian/bicycle access around Grand Army Plaza, but I've actually found that the raised concrete island installed between the library and the park entrance makes it harder to navigate the circle by bicycle. There is only one narrow wheelchair ramp on either side of the island, which is usually blocked by pedestrians. Maybe they could install more/wider curb cuts in any future islands.

By: PHPed

PHPed — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:07:28 +0000

Frankly, I haven't seen any changes in the light at the island in the middle of Flatbush at the library. The timing seems exactly the same.

By: PHresident

PHresident — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:50:31 +0000

I'd like to make a plug for new street lamps--a potentially grand plaza has been marred by ugly lights. People may be more respectful of the place--and more supportive of development ideas--if the plaza were more aesthetically pleasing.

By: crzwdjk

crzwdjk — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:25:18 +0000

One big reason to close the park to traffic: it would greatly simplify traffic flow in the Grand Army Plaza area, and allow much more space to be given over to pedestrians. Not that there isn't plenty of diagonal-striped no-man's-land there already that can't be used as expanded sidewalks and pedestrian islands.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:18:09 +0000

This seems like a nice intermediate win, until next year when they close down the park to traffic hopefully!!

By: Orcutt

Orcutt — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:51:11 +0000

Congrats on relatively fast progress Aaron. The place will still be a traffic hell-hole even with that green-shaded area occasionally out of circulation, but it's a start.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:20:12 +0000

I feel like I'm making a kamikaze move whenever I bike out of Prospect Park and head around the GAP circle toward Vanderbilt. Even when the light is green, it appears as if cars could come charging from a number of different directions. I can't tell whether any of these changes would help that situation. I'd love to see a bike lane connection between PP/GAP and Bergen Street, for us bridge-bound visitors to Brooklyn.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:08:49 +0000

Great post Aaron. It's becoming really obvious that Grand Army Plaza could be one of the most important public spaces in Brooklyn. That would be a welcome change - I grew up in Park Slope and never thought of GAP as more than just a busy traffic circle. Keep up the good work.

By: P

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:39:41 +0000

I'm partial to 'Concept 5' produced by Jan Gehl for Transportation Alternatives that makes the traffic circle run 2 ways and then captures GAP and the roadspace between GAP and Prospect Park for the Park. Then I would do the same thing at Park Circle at the other end of the park.

Of course you'd have to close Prospect Park to traffic to do this but in my mind it solves 3 traffic problems: GAP, Prospect Park, and Park Circle with one solution.

http://www.transalt.org/press/releases/gehlarchitects.pdf