Remembering Our Brooklyn

[Metro Jacksonville]

Remembering Our Brooklyn



Understanding Jacksonville's Brooklyn. Article from From EU Jacksonville and written by Erin Thursby.


Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-nov-remembering-our-brooklyn

[spuwho]

While it is almost too late to bring back what Brooklyn was, its not too late to bring back McCoys Creek.

[thelakelander]

Very true. McCoys is the missing element that can pull Brooklyn and LaVilla together.

[Noone]

Very true. McCoys is the missing element that can pull Brooklyn and LaVilla together.

And McCoys creek is just one piece of the puzzle in this new CRA/DIA 4.8 mile rivers edge zone 2014-560 that extends from the Mathews bridge going backwards to the Fuller Warren bridge. Does anyone else feel sorry for the Baltimore guys? 2014-412. 2014-305. 2014-190.

[Gamblor]

Very true. McCoys is the missing element that can pull Brooklyn and LaVilla together.

Do you mean making McCoys into an attractive park as the fix? If so what do you do about the railroad tracks? I have heard people shout tunnel forever, which I think would be amazing, but I don't know if it is logistically possible and I don't think it is a realistic expectation. So just curious how do you work around them.

[BoldBoyOfTheSouth]

I would love to see McCoys Creek cleaned up and turned into an attractive park.

[spuwho]

I agree with Lake. McCoys Creek could be the "binder" for Brooklyn and LaVilla. It doesnt have to be underground due to the tracks.

Dreaming a little here, but the linkage could be with an AAF add to JT. Extend the JTA Transportation Center bridge/walkway south over the tracks all the way over McCoys Creek and into a future park/kayak landing/short-term parking area for travelers/commuters.

Hits 3 key areas.

Walkability, Connectivity and improved access for 3 major COJ assets in a single construction event.

[thelakelander]

Railroads? No problem.  You just build pedestrian overpasses at strategic points, like they've done in Kansas City, Denver, and Toronto. Then, we already have Myrtle, Park (which could use a lane diet, imo), and Riverside Avenue. All we'd need is another ped connection or two between Myrtle and Riverside Avenue and that would be more than enough.

Kansas City


Denver


Toronto

[Gamblor]

Railroads? No problem.  You just build pedestrian overpasses at strategic points, like they've done in Kansas City, Denver, and Toronto. Then, we already have Myrtle, Park (which could use a lane diet, imo), and Riverside Avenue. All we'd need is another ped connection or two between Myrtle and Riverside Avenue and that would be more than enough.

Kansas City


Denver


Toronto

Those are some nice pedestrian bridges/walkways, however wouldn't this sort of walkway put you over the creek? I just don't see how it'd work with the creek and tracks there, specifically because the tracks hamper walk-ability and connectivity, so while raised walkways can be nice and get you over the tracks, I don't see how you'd get the benefit of the creek and any park/open elements that might be built there too. I do think more pedestrian/bike connectivity is essential, thus my asking.

[thelakelander]

Where the railroad parallels the creek, the greenway would have to be on the south side of the creek, where Brooklyn Park already exists. So yes, a bridge would be needed to get people over the railroad and creek. The Toronto image is a prefect example. It connects a large park anchored by the CN Tower, that's separated by a railyard, with the rest of downtown.

[Gamblor]

Where the railroad parallels the creek, the greenway would have to be on the south side of the creek, where Brooklyn Park already exists. So yes, a bridge would be needed to get people over the railroad and creek. The Toronto image is a prefect example. It connects a large park anchored by the CN Tower, that's separated by a railyard, with the rest of downtown.

Do you think walls would be used need to be used in that area of brooklyn to mitigate some of the train noise? I'm going to take a look at that park in Toronto, it does sound like a good blueprint then

[spuwho]

Pedestrian bridges need to be above all functional, but beyond this they should also relate to that which makes a location special, to its pathways, topography and context. Through their presence in the public realm, they offer the opportunity of not only connecting areas separated from each other, but also of giving a place its own identity. To draft a good pedestrian bridge, a great deal of design sensitivity is required, particularly when the bridge is being built in an inner-city area or in a sensitive landscape.But since less restrictive functional and structural requirements apply to pedestrian bridges than to road or rail bridges, pedestrian bridges offer the required design latitude for reacting to the place and use with individual solutions.

Author: Andreas Keil
Book: Pedestrian Bridges
http://shop.detail.de/uk_e/pedestrian-bridges.html

[thelakelander]

Do you think walls would be used need to be used in that area of brooklyn to mitigate some of the train noise? I'm going to take a look at that park in Toronto, it does sound like a good blueprint then

I'm not sure walls are needed. The train and neighborhood have co-existed for over a century.

[Gamblor]

True and they wouldn't be the most difficult thing to add after the fact if public spaces were added on the Brooklyn side of creek and people were calling for them. I looked at that pedestrian walkway in toronto on google and love some of the details they thought of like planters hanging down from the top of the poles that hold the plexi in place

[spuwho]

Examples:

Peace Bridge in Calgary:


John Street Bridge for Metrolink:


Harbor Drive Bridge in San Diego:


Proposed Front Street Bridge in Toronto:


Proposed 35th Street Bridge in Chicago: