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Prospect Park’s teensy Terrace Bridge has one thing in common with the Brooklyn Bridge: They’re both the lousiest in the borough.
According to the city’s latest “Bridge Condition Report” — which ranks bridges based on “structural deficiencies” — the two are on a list of the four worst citywide.
Unlike the internationally famous-but-architecturally-flunking Brooklyn Bridge, Terrace Bridge — a blink-and-miss-it arc stretching a few yards across Prospect Park lake — “doesn’t get much day-to-day use,” said Eugene Patron of the Prospect Park Alliance.
But, even so, the tiny stone structure — which is closed to cars and sits across from the area that once housed the ice skating rink — will be reconstructed and given a historic restoration, according to the Department of Transportation.
The agency was quick to add that a “poor” ranking means that a bridge its not up to current engineering standards, but is not necessarily unsafe.
That’s part of why park-goers — many of whom care more about protecting wildlife than helping drivers navigate the park — say construction on the 140-year-old bridge isn’t worth disturbing one of the few wildlife-rich areas in Brooklyn.
“The question is whether construction crews will be environmentally sensitive,” said park watchdog Johanna Clearfield, adding that waterfowl live nearby. “The city should be held accountable.”
News about the bridge makeover comes after park-users last year complained that city agencies have not thoroughly maintained and enforced upkeep of the park, citing everything from littering to illegal barbequing.
Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Gastel said that a date for the construction had not yet been set, but fixing the Brooklyn Bridge — which hosts an average of 127,000 drivers per day — is first on the to-do list.
©2011 Community Newspaper Group
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