Prospect Park loop segment to be repaved and redesigned for cyclists, pedestrians
Construction begins next week on a two-mile stretch of East Side Drive as a trial that could extend to the full loop to "minimize conflicts"
Prospect Park is redesigning a busy part of its interior loop in an effort to “minimize conflicts” between pedestrians and cyclists.
Repaving begins next week on a two-mile stretch of East Side Drive, which begins at Grand Army Plaza and travels south to Park Circle in Windsor Terrace, as a pilot to see if the design should be implemented on the entirety of the park’s loop.
The new design will mean major changes for pedestrians, cyclists and authorized vehicles. Walkers and runners, who currently occupy one side of the road, will be able to use both sides. The bike and vehicle path will be moved to the center of the road and expanded from 10 feet to between 16 to 18 feet.
The proposed redesign, courtesy NYC Department of Transportation
“For many years, our community has advocated for safety improvements on the Park Drive, and we are grateful that the study made it on the ballot for Participatory Budgeting, and has now come to fruition,” Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco wrote in an email to Brooklyn Magazine.”
The redesign is the result of a $15,000 study, funded through the city’s participatory budgeting process, and is based on feedback from park visitors. The Alliance said in a statement that the path hasn’t been repaved in about a decade and needs a redesign after the park was closed to outside vehicles in 2018.
Tension has “intensified with the significant increase in usage of the Park Drive by pedestrians, runners and cyclists in recent years,” the park in its announcement of the pilot program, which will run for 18 months. The park encourages anyone interested to leave feedback here.
There are, as always, some skeptics. “It’s going to be chaos,” one cyclist told Gothamist. “Pedestrians are going to walk in the middle and cyclists are going to ride on the outside.”
Work begins this Sunday and will happen overnight, between 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., and is expected to take five weeks to complete.
Elsewhere in the park, Prospect Park Alliance is currently working with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to respond to community feedback on a proposed $27.5 million renovation of the Vale of Cashmere.
