BY JACKSON CHEN | A chunk of Central Park from West 86th to West 90th Streets is due for renovations and accessibility improvements, according to the park’s conservancy.
The main lawn portion of the four-block area between Central Park West and the West Drive inside the park is often used by parkgoers as a shortcut to get to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and has undergone erosion over the years, according to Lane Addonizio, the Central Park Conservancy’s associate vice president for planning.
She added that the pathway closest to the 85th Street Transverse, designed prior to the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, has proven to have too steep of a slope for some park users.
To remedy both situations, the conservancy plans a restoration program that aims to replace its current dustbowl-like state with an “open, rolling greensward” through the installation of an underground drainage and irrigation system.
When that effort is completed, the conservancy plans to maintain the fresh landscape by employing a red-flag system where if lawns are wet or need to rest to restore themselves, access to them would be temporarily restricted. Also, broad mulch areas will be established around new trees to guard against erosion created by the daily flow of park users.
As for the slope near 85th Street, the conservancy will realign its path, reduce its grade, and install handrails to meet accessibility requirements. While accessibility standards can’t be met with every park path, Addonizio explained, main routes, like the ones that lead to the park’s massive reservoir, will be made more welcoming to park users in wheelchairs or with other disabilities.
Outside the park, the hexagonal-patterned sidewalk and the benches will be restored. Near the benches and the M10 bus stops on Central Park West, the conservancy will install a smooth grade to accommodate people with disabilities.
The project, Addonizio said, will be undertaken in phases, likely beginning late this year or early in 2017. Completion is expected within about one year.
