Grand Army Plaza, the iconic Brooklyn hub famous for its towering arch and hectic traffic, is getting a major makeover.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced last month<\/a> that the southern end of the 14-acre oval would be permanently closed to car traffic.<\/p>\n The plan would effectively reconnect Prospect Park \u2014 Brooklyn\u2019s spiritual backyard \u2014 with the plaza\u2019s best known feature: the Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Memorial Arch. It could also help untangle the flow of traffic for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers on a loop so hazardous it once had an unofficial \u201cDeath-O-Meter<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest change involves closing the four lanes of car traffic, from Union Street to Eastern Parkway, that currently divide the arch from Prospect Park.<\/p>\n The redesign would add about three-quarters of an acre of public space to the plaza, which is home to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, one of the city\u2019s biggest farmers\u2019 markets. The expansion would allow for more vendors, outdoor performance space and other seasonal events, according to the Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n Pedestrians<\/p>\n Walking between the plaza and the park today can feel chaotic, because of multiple lanes of merging traffic. By closing a section of road on one end, the new design creates a horseshoe pattern of traffic, rather than a full loop. The plan calls for reducing the total number of crossings for pedestrians and cyclists to 24, down from 39.<\/p>\n That means an uninterrupted walk from the arch to the park, and fewer crosswalks to get there. The city also plans to raise 10 crosswalks, which would make them level with the curb and act as speed bumps for cars.<\/p>\n And visitors to the public library on the plaza would no longer have to crowd onto tiny pedestrian islands with cars whizzing by around them.<\/p>\n Bicycles<\/p>\n The plan calls for the creation of protected bike lanes in and around the plaza, adding to the existing but incomplete network of painted lanes. Some design elements are still being decided, but the lanes would be protected by a combination of parked vehicles and landscaping.<\/p>\n