After five years of rehabilitation, the Carroll Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal reopened on June 15 as a pedestrian and cyclist crossing. Cars and trucks are now permanently banned from the 137-year-old span, which had carried vehicular traffic since 1889 and sat locked in its open position throughout the closure.
The permanent restriction reflects how much Gowanus has changed in those five years. As the neighborhood has grown more residential, traffic data collected during the closure showed the Carroll Street span was perennially the least busy of the four crossings over the canal, and its absence produced no measurable increase in traffic on the three alternate bridges at Union, Third, and Ninth Streets.
Opened in 1889 at a cost of $29,600 and built by the New Jersey Steel and Iron Company, the structure uses a retractile mechanism that slides the span diagonally rather than lifting or swinging it open at a 90-degree angle. At 107 feet, it is a trapezoid of riveted steel girders supporting a wood plank deck, with two cantilevered sidewalks and a small polygonal brick operator’s house at its western end. New York City has one comparable retractile bridge, in Queens; Boston has two others, though apparently neither remains operable. The span was designated a New York City landmark in 1987.
Rehabilitation work addressed the abutment and approach and added a new timber wearing surface. Planters and vertical elements now line the entrance to reinforce the vehicular ban. One piece of posted vintage signage survived the restoration intact, a century-old statute limiting crossing speed to a walk, with a $5 fine.
