One of Downtown Brooklyn's busiest corners will become a pedestrian oasis when the city constructs a public plaza at Hoyt and Schermerhorn streets.

The Department of Transportation is planning a 17-foot wide by 70-foot long piazza with seating and bike racks in front of the main entrance to the Hoyt--Schermerhorn train station, giving pedestrians more space to walk in an area where sidewalks are often obstructed by parked police cars.

The plaza will be protected from traffic and new cycling routes on Schermerhorn Street by a row of potted plants.

"This won't just provide some room to breathe on a stretch of sidewalk that is notoriously congested, but it will also taking back some rare public space in Downtown Brooklyn that does little more than sit under cars all day," said Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives.

Construction might begin as early as November.The move was not only motivated by a desire to get the police cars to find legal parking, but to accommodate scores of new residents along what has become Downtown's latest residential strip between Smith and Nevins streets.

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper