Pedestrian Improvements Needed in Princeton Junction

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance sponsored two organized walks in October in Princeton Junction along Princeton-Hightstown Road (Route 571) to examine the difficulties pedestrian commuters encounter when trying to walk to the Princeton Junction Train Station during rush hour. Alliance trustees and members were joined by residents and two members of town council.

A list of specific recommendations were generated from these walks to address the obvious and serious gaps in pedestrian access and safety on the east side of the Train Station. The recommendations focus on the painting of crosswalks where none currently exist (e.g., on Wallace and Cranbury Roads at their intersection with Rt. 571), improving existing crosswalks by the installation of pedestrian-activated crossing signals (e.g., Sherbrooke Drive and Rt. 571), adding segments of sidewalks to complete “missing links”, repairing existing sidewalks in disrepair, and improving lighting. A complete and detailed list of the recommendations is posted on our Web site at http://www.princetononline.org/wwbpa.

We understand that the mayor, township council members and staff have the difficult challenge of trying to balance cost and timelines for many township projects. We also understand that planned improvements to pedestrian access and safety are coming to the Princeton Junction area with the planned improvements to County Rt. 571 as well as with the proposed Redevelopment of the Princeton Junction Train Station area. However, the timelines for these projects are years away from being realized which leaves these dangerous conditions unremedied for the present. The suggested improvements we have outlined are practical, not overly burdensome financially, and could be implemented in an expedited manner.

We have thus recommended to the West Windsor Township administration that these proposed improvements be reviewed for inclusion in the 2007 Capital Budget, and then implemented as soon as possible to ensure the safety of pedestrians in Princeton Junction.

Ken Carlson
President
West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance

Trailbuilding on the Rogers Preserve

On Sunday October 15th, eleven volunteers worked together to expand the trail network on the Rogers Preserve near Grovers Mill Pond. A new trail was cleared from the sidewalk between Landing Lane and Berskhire Drive to Cranbury Road and winding through a beautiful hardwood forest, crossing a stream and ending at the guardrail along Cranbury Road near the bridge over Bear Brook. Further trail work is needed to refine the trail, but it is now possible to walk the Rogers Trail, cross Cranbury Road, walk down Stobbe Lane and JoAnn Street and then proceed down the Millstone River Trail. If you add a walk of the Arboretum trails to the beginning of this tour, you will have a memorable one hour trail walk in the middle of our town. Many thanks to our hardy trail builders:


Bike-Ped Alliance members Roger Alig, Ace Miller, Art Pope and his children Alex and Charles and their friend Jonathan, Steve Meersma and his children Kim and Brian and their friend Charles, and yours truly.

West Windsor Walks

In the second of our series of "West Windsor Walks", on Tuesday October 10 at 7:30 a.m., WWBPA members treked from the corner of Sherbrooke Drive at Route 571 crossing 571, and then continued on the south-side of Route 571 to the intersection of Wallace Road and then walked up Wallace to the entrance of the Princeton Junction Train Station.

We observed the conditions and collected input for some recommendations for improvements:

Princeton Hightstown Road (Route 571):
• Pedestrian activated signal crossing at intersection of Sherbrooke Dr and Princeton Hightstown Rd.
• Construction of missing sidewalk link in front of Sovereign Bank
• Striping of sidewalk lines on asphalt in front of Gloria Nilson Realtors
• Striping on crosswalk on Cranbury Road at Princeton-Hightstown Rd. (no crosswalk currently exists)
• Equip intersection with functional pedestrian activated traffic signal

Wallace Road:
• Striping crosswalk on Wallace Road at intersection with Princeton-Highstown Road (no crosswalk currently exists). This is a dangerous pedestrian crossing. There should be a no right turn on red for cars on the bridge over the NE Corrisor train tracks heading east
• Improve sidewalk on west side of Wallace Rd from Princeton Hightstown Rd to train station entrance, including the driveway entrance to the school bus parking lot which is in serious disrepair and unsafe for pedestrians
• Fix missing curb-cuts on sidewalk on Wallace Road and at the intersection of Wallace and Princeton-Hightstown Rd.
• Additional lighting along Wallace Rd and at intersection with Princeton-Hightstown Rd.

The next walk in the series will focus on the challenge of crosssing Clarksville Rd to Avalon Watch on Thursday November 9, starting at 6 p.m. at the Village Shoppes on Clarksville Road.

...Susan

more photos:









pedestrians avoid crossing at the intersection, and take the side with no sidewalk, and then cross Wallace mid-block:





existing sidewalks on Wallace Road in need of repair:

PSE&G Trail

This Sunday I had the absolute pleasure of biking on the recently completed first segment of the PSE&G Bike Trail. This segment of the trail starts at Penn Lyle Road and ends (for now) on South Mill Road. I stopped to take photographs at where the trail crosses Woodmere Road. I'm happy to say that the trail is already being extensively used, as can be seen by these photographs of a father and daughter biking on the trail and of a jogger. I saw others on the trail as well, including a family of five bicycling (with helmets!).

The trail, when completed will start from Penn Lyle Road and extend through Community Park to end at Rabbit Hill Road, as it follows under the PSE&G Power Lines (which is on land that long ago supported a trolly line that bisected West Windsor). It's expeceted to be completed by late fall. Kudos to the Mayor and his staff, particularly Sam Surtees and Jim Parvesse, for having the vision and persistence to make this trail happen. Credit also to Pete Weale and Ham Pakradooni, the fomer a member of the Recreational Trails and Bikeways Committee of FOWWOS, and the latter a member of the Mayor's Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force, two groups I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Ken Naglak. Pete and Ham made many calls to PSE&G officials to help to convince PES&G to allow for this right of way. It is personally very gratifying to
see this trail, as it was the idea of this trail that first sparked Ken's and my interest in bicycle/pedestrian advocacy. We were pleased to find out when we inquired that the township was already working toward this, and we used our groups to help lobby for the trail. I look forward to the completion of the trail as it is currently envisioned, and look forward to extending the trail into Plainsboro and to developing connecting trails to create an exciting recreational trail network in our town.

Walk at Hawk Event

The International Walk To School event at Maurice Hawk on October 4th was a big success. It was something to see- 850 students walking in the streets around Hawk on a beautiful October day. Barry Keppard of the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association did much of the planning for the event, with the help of WWBPA Vice-President, Susan Conlon. Kudos to Barry and his staff at the GMTMA. And certainly many thanks to Principal Denise Mengani, who can be seen talking to Hawk students before the walk and also posing with Barry below. Many thanks also to WWBPA Trustees, Alison Miller, Janet Greenman, Daryl McMillan, and WWBPA member, Kathy Stratton for volunteering on the day of the event. Please see Susan's previous blog entry for a link to the Trenton Times article on the Event. We hope to include more of West Windsor's schools for next year's International Walk to School Day.

Walk to Hawk

The Walk at Hawk event yesterday for International Walk to School Day was a success.
Read about it in today’s Trenton Times.... and thanks to Barry Keppard for connecting GMTMA with WWBPA to organize the event, and the volunteers who came out and walked the routes.
~ Susan