Pedestrian and Bike Improvements Coming to Grand Army Plaza

Current configuration

Proposed changes

Here’s a look at the proposal the DOT gave to Brooklyn’s Community Board 6 on March 29th regarding safety improvements at Grand Army Plaza. The plan’s highlights include:

• Three new concrete islands (5,900 square feet)
• 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 auto lane east of the arch.

According to Michael Cairl, chair of the Gowanus Community Stakeholder Group, the Class 1 bike lane would be one-way eastbound, with westbound (park-bound) cyclists from Eastern Parkway either using the Plaza Street bike lane or dismounting and using the new crosswalks to cross. DOT also announced at the meeting that reconstruction of the Eastern Parkway median from Plaza Street to Washington Avenue would start later this year and would include a bike lane.

Cairl’s organization is a member of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition, which recently organized a community workshop to re-envision the plaza. StreetFilms was there. He called the proposed improvements “an interesting first step.”