Death-o-Meter at Grand Army Plaza

Grand Army Plaza: Park or thruway?
Local groups hope to restore designers’ original vision

Grand Army Plaza during the 1920s, when a “Death-O-Meter” was installed.
Prospect Park Archives

By Gersh Kuntzman
The Brooklyn Papers

Grand Army Plaza is grand in name only.

But the clogged heart of Brooklyn, relegated to serving as little more than a good-looking traffic circle for decades, is on the verge of a multi-pronged effort to restore its original grandeur.

This week, Transportation Alternatives hired a renowned Danish traffic consultant to figure out how to untangle the mess of roads, walkways and ill-timed lights that have separated the plaza from what could be an adoring public.

The Prospect Park Alliance, which spent $2 million restoring a fountain in the plaza’s center that no one can get to, has joined the campaign, along with a new group called the Grand Army Plaza Coalition.

http://www.brooklynpapers.com/html/issues/_vol29/29_22/29_22nets1.html

Why not just build bridges?

Is it really that tough to cross through GAP? No, it's not that convenient, but we're not talking Frogger, here... We walk by the fountain every Saturday on our way to the Farmer's Market.

Bridges? Assuming a ramp-type, what kind of arch would you have to have on that thing for the traffic clearance and the relatively short span to the plaza?! If not a ramp, you need stairs/elevator (wheelchair accessible) or the lovely spiral ramp... :roll: For a city with hundreds (thousands?) of miles of subway lines, a tunnel couldn't be that tough...

Tunnels would be ideal, but the disruption of daily life might be crazy. Bridges might be crazy too. However, pedestrian bridges go up relatively quickly, plus, the view of the park might be nice while walking on them.