Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that operates Prospect Park in partnership with the City, released on Tuesday the results of a safety study of the Prospect Park Drive conducted by leading traffic consultancy Sam Schwartz, in partnership with NYC Parks and NYC DOT.
NYC Parks and NYC DOT also announced plans to act on one of the safety study’s recommendations, by piloting a safer reconfiguration of the roadway: increasing overall space for cyclists and pedestrians, and giving pedestrians space on both sides of the Park Drive to minimize conflicts. These changes will be piloted as DOT crews repave the eastern portion of the Park Drive starting next week. Following the 18-month pilot, the redesign will be evaluated for implementation along the full drive.
The Park Drive Safety Study was funded through Participatory Budgeting in District 39 of the New York City Council, which includes Prospect Park; this participatory process enables constituents to vote for public funding for projects and initiatives in their community. The study was conducted to address safety issues on the Park Drive, which was never fully redesigned after Prospect Park closed to outside vehicular traffic in 2018. Those issues have intensified with the significant increase in usage of the Park Drive by pedestrians, runners and cyclists in recent years.
Review the safety study on the Prospect Park Alliance website, and provide valuable feedback that will enable the Alliance, NYC Parks and the DOT to evaluate and prioritize improvements: www.prospectpark.org/drive-safety-study.
“We are very appreciative of our elected officials and city agency partners for their support of this safety study, as well as the many members of the community who voted on this study as part of the Participatory Budgeting process,” said Morgan Monaco, President of Prospect Park Alliance. “I also want to recognize the Prospect Park Community Committee and Park Drive Safety Task Force, who have worked diligently over many years to advocate for safety protocols on the Park Drive, and were instrumental in shaping the recommendations in the study. We appreciate and share your commitment to a safe and accessible Park Drive.”
Study Recommendations
The study commenced in Spring 2022 with a research phase where Sam Schwartz consultants analyzed crash data, pedestrian counts, roadway grade, existing crossings and signals, and park-drive-related park user correspondence to determine critical issues. Potential solutions were identified and refined through meetings and a survey with the Park Drive Safety Task Force and members of NYC DOT and NYC Parks. In some cases, options were modified or deemed infeasible due to feedback. Study recommendations were refined based on further analysis, feedback and precedent research.
Recommendations were categorized by design interventions, such as roadway striping, crosswalk visibility and safety improvements, and renovations to the park drive to widen usable roadspace; operational interventions, such as signage, signals, usage rules and community outreach/education; and policy.
Review the safety study on the Prospect Park Alliance website, and provide valuable feedback that will enable the Alliance, NYC Parks and the DOT to evaluate and prioritize improvements: www.prospectpark.org/drive-safety-study.
DOT Repaving and Pilot Project
Along with the release of the study, NYC DOT will repave almost two miles of the 3.3-mile loop inside Prospect Park, focusing this spring on the eastern portion of Park Drive from Park Circle to Grand Army Plaza. The repaving will address the current heavily potholed conditions on this portion of the Drive, which has not been repaved for more than a decade.
The eastern portion of Park Drive in Prospect Park will be repaved and redesigned this spring.
The roadway will be milled and repaved starting around the night of Monday, March 13, at Park Circle, a process that is expected to take about five weeks, weather permitting. To minimize disruption for park users, the work will be staged to take place entirely during weeknight overnight hours (see map, inset). NYC DOT crews are scheduled to resurface from 8 pm to 4 am, milling a given section of the existing roadway for approximately three nights and then paving the same section for two nights, with the goal to ensure that fully paved roads are available to park users on weekends during the entire repaving process. NYC DOT’s roadways crews will provide VMS boards within the park to update park users of the progress and timing of the paving work.
On the fresh asphalt, NYC DOT will pilot one of the safety recommendations from the study: re-marking the roadway to add a second pedestrian lane on the outside of the drive. This piloted redesign (see existing and new, below) will expand space for pedestrians and joggers by adding a pedestrian lane on the far side of the drive to prevent the need for crossings and reduce conflicts. The pilot design will be publicized through signage in the park, engagement by NYC DOT ambassadors, flyers in the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as promotion on NYC social media channels, and will be evaluated closely over the next 18 months.
Cross-sections illustrating design changes to the eastern portion of Park Drive in Prospect Park.
DOT asks for patience from park users in the coming weeks as the paving process is underway. While the work will take place in overnight hours to minimize disruption, portions of the Park Drive will have rough, milled roadway surfaces on some weekdays. During these periods, cyclists are advised to take alternate routes, including along protected bicycle lanes just outside the park on Parkside Avenue, Flatbush Avenue and Prospect Park West.
The public is encouraged to stay up to date with the milling/paving schedule by checking this link on the NYC DOT website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/resurfintro.shtml.
About the Prospect Park Drive Safety Task Force
Prospect Park Alliance has convened the following organizations and city offices to provide insight and feedback on safety issues on the Park Drive for many years, and this group’s insight and feedback was instrumental in shaping the Park Drive Safety Study:
Achilles International, AdaptAbility, Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, FIDO, Gallop NYC, Good Neighbors of Park Slope, Kissena Cycling Club, New York City Council District 35, New York City Council District 39, New York City Council District 40, New York Cycle Club, New York Road Runners, New York State Assembly District 43, New York State Assembly District 44, New York State Senate District 20, Park Slope Neighbors, Park Slope Parents, Prospect Park Community Committee, Prospect Park Track Club, Trail Blazers Camps, Transportation Alternatives.
About Prospect Park Alliance:
Prospect Park Alliance is the non-profit organization that sustains, restores and advances Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s Backyard, in partnership with the City of New York. The Alliance provides critical staff and resources that keep the Park green and vibrant for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home. The Alliance cares for the woodlands and natural areas; restores the park’s buildings and landscapes; creates innovative park destinations; and provides free and low-cost volunteer, education and recreation programs. Today, Prospect Park is an international model for the care of urban parks, and one of the premier green spaces in the United States. Learn more at www.prospectpark.org.
About Sam Schwartz:
For more than 25 years, Sam Schwartz has been known as the transportation firm that solves the industry’s most challenging problems by balancing exemplary technical skills with exceptional creative approaches—a combination that sets our work apart. From our roots as a New York City traffic engineering consultancy, we have grown to a national firm with 8 offices and a team of professionals across disciplines including transportation and environmental planning, transit, civil engineering, and community engagement. Sam Schwartz is a member of a global alliance of consulting and engineering firms, led by TYLin, spanning the building, transportation, and water sectors. Learn more at www.samschwartz.com.
This article was originally posted on brooklyneagle.com.
