Prospect Park Drive to be improved for cyclists and pedestrians
5-week milling, repaving to begin next week
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.