Safety Improvements Planned For Eastern Parkway In Crown Heights

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — Improvements to Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights are slated to start this spring, making the roadway more pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

The updates will span from Rogers to Troy Avenue on Eastern Parkway, including new ramps onto the large pedestrian walkway, expanded pedestrian network and improved sidewalk conditions, according to the NYC Department of Transportation.

A larger portion of Eastern Parkway from Ralph Avenue to Washington Avenue were included in the year's long improvement project, according to DOT plans from 2017, and improvements to a stretch from Lincoln Place to Pacific Street kicked off in 2020.

Eastern Parkway — known as "the world's first parkway" — was built in the 1870s and has only been sporadically updated over the years, according to a department presentation from 2017.

Improvements to the parkway started as early as 2006, and the road was identified as a Vision Zero corridor in a de Blasio-era initiative to reduce pedestrian deaths, according to Curbed.

The parkways was "not originally designed to accommodate modern traffic infrastructure," according to DOT.

A year ago, DOT made more headway on the area with improvements to Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue. Improved crosswalks, traffic and pedestrian signals, lane markings, bike lanes and more targeted high crash volume at the intersection, according to DOT.

The stretch bumps up with Grand Army Plaza, which DOT is considering making a car-free, among other options for a major pedestrian improvement project, Gothamist reported in November 2022.