9th Street Bridge Project
Work in Progress
The 9th Street Bridge in Brooklyn crosses the Gowanus Canal between Smith Street and Second Avenue. Car traffic on 9th Street is two way, and the vertical-lift bridge occasionally opens to boat traffic on the canal. The N, R and F trains arrive and depart overhead on elevated tracks whose height (at 87.5 ft. the second-tallest such platform in the world) was dictated by clearances for tall mast ships. Heading West, train cars proceed on a long curve of track that bends North on its way to re-entering the underground. Heading East from Smith Street, there's a further stop on 4th Avenue, and then the tracks lower as they enter the subway system in the hilt of Park Slope. Standing on this bridge provides views North towards downtown Brooklyn and South to Highway 278, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, which is also highly elevated at this point in its path through Brooklyn. At the West end of the bridge, straphangers spill out of the Smith/9th Street subway entrance, while on the East side, there are industrial workspaces, Old Iron Architectural Salvage, and an entrance to Lowes. A lot of cross currents happen here around the bridge which makes it an exciting place to study and learn about through the social, visual, and artistic instrument of photography.
