Last night CB7 held a workshop together with the DOT to redesign Park Circle. For those of you that are unaware of this circle, it’s located on the South-Western corner of Prospect park (map). It connects Coney Island Ave, Ocean Pkwy, Prospect Park Southwest, Ft. Hamilton Pkwy, the Prospect Expressway, the park, and Parkside Ave. It is the connection for many in South Brooklyn to Prospect Park. Going to this workshop, I was going to mention the obvious Ocean Pkwy to Prospect park disconnect, but when I came there I saw that the Department of City Planning was there to do a specific presentation on the Park Circle / Ocean Pkwy setup. A major focus of the presentation was the Ocean Pkwy Greenway disconnect. After the presentation we got to the DOT workshop which was a big success on all fronts (driving,cycling,walking). I was able to network with all of these very important city officials. I walked out of that meeting with a big sense of accomplishment.

The Department of City Planning Presentation:

The presentation was given by Erik Seims from the department. The presentation began with a aerial photo of the section where Ocean Parkway used to turn and lead to Park Circle. This included the Ocean Parkway Greenway (100 years old). Sometime in the 50’s, the Prospect Expressway was built which broke that connection. Erik then went through the path that cyclists are supposed to take now to get from the Ocean Pkwy greenway to Prospect Park. Apparently, you are supposed to cross at Church Ave (a very dangerous intersection which the presentation showed) and then continue on the sidewalk until you get to the Circle. When you get to the circle, you should stay on the outside until you reach the park. There are a couple of greenway signs that show this. Frankly, I don’t know anyone who knows this path or uses it. He explained a total reconstruction of that area and the Circle. The reconstruction is going into a capital project and will take many years to complete. The Park Circle will be absolved into the Park and redesigned. The proposed circle looked very promising. I will be posting the full presentation when I get my hands on it.

The DOT Workshop:

After the Department of Planning presentation, the DOT explained that they would like to redesign the circle this year with some temporary improvements until the Capital project comes into place. A DOT representative gave the presentation explaining what DOT tools we could use in our workshop (signs, bollards, etc.) Then we split into groups of about 5-10 people at tables with huge printouts of the current circle. Each group had to come up with three points they felt were important and then present them to everyone there. A DOT representative was at each table helping people with their ideas. There were a lot of great ideas drawn up at the workshop. Here are some:

1.  Signage needed: This circle has so many entrances and exits without any signs for driver to know which lane they have to be in to get to where they are going. Our group suggested signs before the circle informing drivers where to go. Additionally, we suggested painting the lanes to inform people where they are headed.
2. Bike lane: This circle is extremely dangerous for cyclists and encourages them to take other routes or dangerously navigate this circle. Our group proposed a protected bike lane on the outside of the circle where there is plenty of room anyways. Another group proposed a bike path on the sidewalk which is very wide in that area.
3. Pedestrian Crosswalks: Navigating the circle as a pedestrian is a nightmare, and our group and all of the other groups had many good crosswalk suggestions.
4. Horse improvements: All of this attention can be attributed to Stable Brooklyn and a study they did. There was a lot of discussion on making their navigation through the circle better and safer.
   

The DOT representative made a comment about how impressed she was with our ideas. I think the workshop really showed her that having these workshops allows the locals (that know the area so well) to help the DOT do it job so much better.

What I learned from the meeting:

1.  Capital Projects are created by the community board: The Department of city planning specifically said that if you want a capital project done in your neighborhood, it should be submitted by the community board. That’s how projects get into the capital plan. This complete redesign of Park Circle will be happening because Community Board 7 saw how ridiculous it was and asked the City to look into fixing it. This just outlines the true value of our community boards. If you have a project you would like to see done in your neighborhood, bring it to the community board.
   
2. The receptiveness of a livable street by the community: This community is a very car centric community. Yet they were very receptive and encouraging of a complete street design (except for a couple of grumblings in the beginning). They recognize that having livable streets instead of some ugly semi highway next to their home is what they want to see. This gives me hope for future improvements such as these in other neighborhoods.
3. Local workshops are in: I have mentioned before that if the DOT would just go to the local community and ask for some help in doing design’s, they would have an easier job, and we would have better streets. Whether these workshops (Tillary was the first) came out of the Kent Ave. story or not, I am glad to see them as part of street design.

What We Can Do About Park Circle

Since this is still in the early stages, the DOT still wants your input. They said that they will have a form up in a couple of days to submit your thoughts. I will put up the link when I get it.

-Sholom Brody