Perils for Pedestrians is a monthly television series promoting awareness of issues affecting the safety of people who walk and bicycle. Producer John Z. Wetmore interviews advocates and government planners from around the country (and sometimes the world) about problems such as missing sidewalks and crosswalks, dangerous intersections, speeding traffic, and obstacles to wheelchair users and people with disabilities; solutions to such problems are offered.
The most recent episodes are available at on blip.tv and older episodes (the series began in 1996) are linked from the index on pedestrians.org.
The shows are broadcast on the Princeton Public Access TV Channel (available in West Windsor on Verizon FiOS Channel 45). This summer they are shown on Tuesdays at 7 PM, Fridays at 1:30 PM, and Sundays at 11:30 AM.
West Windsor adopted a “Complete Streets” resolution on Monday that calls for designing new and reconstructed streets so that they can “safely accommodate travel by pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit, and motorized vehicles and their passengers, with special priority given to bicyclist and pedestrian safety.”
Complete Streets policies have been adopted by the U.S. and New Jersey governments, but West Windsor is one of the first New Jersey municipalities to do so. The WWBPA believes that designing streets with ALL users in mind from the start will save money because we won’t have to do costly retrofits and will make our community more liveable — which benefits all of us (and our property values).
What do Complete Streets look like? Watch this animation to see the transformation of a fairly barren multiple-lane road becomes a bustling shopping area.
On July 19, 2010, West Windsor Township Council adopted a resolution, requesting “that Mercer County establish a bicycle route from the Delaware and Raritan Canal to the Princeton Junction Train Station at West Windsor along Washington Road.”
This is just a first step. The Departments of Transportation for both Mercer County and the State of New Jersey will have to come on board, since this is a county route and it crosses U.S. Route 1, for which the State of New Jersey is responsible. It’s not clear how quickly they will act. Join the WWBPA in reminding officials that this is the best way for cyclists to go between West Windsor and Princeton and that bike lanes will make the route safer for all. Come to our next meeting (Aug. 12) to learn more about how you can help.
We’ve been advocating putting some of West Windsor’s roads on diets, principally Canal Pointe Boulevard and Alexander Road (see our post from May 2010). A “road diet” means reducing travel lanes, for example, from four to two with a center turning lane, thus allowing room for bike lanes and sidewalks. This leads to fewer changes in lane by cars and fewer accidents.
A June 2010 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that road diets still allow for the same number of cars on the roads, with from 19% to 47% fewer crashes (percentages vary depending on whether the road diet is in an urban or suburban area).
Four-lane configuration before road diet
Three-lane configuration after road diet
Source for both photos: Pedestrian Bike Information Center, “Road Diets” training module, 2009.
The proposed bicycle component of Mercer County’s master plan will be discussed at an “open house” from 4 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday July 14 at the main branch of the Mercer County Library, Business Route 1 and Darrah Lane in Lawrence. This will give all those interested a chance to learn about this part of the master plan and how it could make the county safer for bicyclists as well as to offer comments on what is being developed.
Bicyclists have already been asked to provide input on the bikeability of roads in the county. A key step now is to define key links and intersections in need of improvement. By adding a bicycle element to the Mercer County Master Plan, it should help ensure that bicyclists are taken into account when road improvements are made.
WWBPA joined hundreds of groups from around the country in signing a letter of thanks to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood for helping to make bicycling and walking an important part of the department’s policy. Many bicyclists and pedestrians joined Secretary LaHood at DOT headquarters in Washington, D.C. at the start of the Memorial Day weekend to present the letter.
Secretary LaHood noted, “… making walking and biking safer and more accessible is relatively inexpensive. For example, we could upgrade the entire 2,250 mile East Coast Greenway, a network of bike routes stretching all the way from Key West to Maine, for only one-fifth the cost of a single recent I-95 bridge over the Potomac.”
The WWBPA believes that Alexander Road and Canal Pointe Boulevard would benefit from road diets. A Seattle study of a road diet on one of its streets notes the following:
A West Windsor resident emailed the WWBPA about a broken button to activate the pedestrian walk signal at the intersection of Alexander Road with Bear Brook Drive and Vaughn Drive as well as two street lights that were out at the intersection.
The WWBPA forwarded his concerns to the mayor, who quickly ensured that the needed repairs were made by Mercer County and PSE&G, respectively.
“The streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. They ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper. But too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams.
Now, in communities across the country, a movement is growing to complete the streets. States, cities and towns are asking their planners and engineers to build road networks that are safer, more livable, and welcoming to everyone.
Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind – including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.”
The federal Department of Transportation recently adopted a policy to support “the development of fully integrated active transportation networks. The establishment of well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of Federal-aid project developments.”
Ride with Us! Celebrate Biking and Walking
on newly-constructed section
of the D&R Canal Trail
Hosts:
WWBPA
Trenton Cycling Revolution
NJ Bike & Walk Coalition
East Coast Greenway Alliance
Downtown Princeton Junction / Rt. 571 Recommendations
read the letter to our public officials regarding the proposed Downtown Princeton Junction design: We recommend lower speeds, landscaped medians and a pedestrian-activated signal at Sherbrooke Drive, among other things.
Perils for Pedestrians is a monthly television series promoting awareness of issues affecting the safety of people who walk and bicycle. Producer John Z. Wetmore interviews advocates and government planners from around the country (and sometimes the world) about problems such as missing sidewalks and crosswalks, dangerous intersections, speeding traffic, and obstacles to wheelchair users and people with disabilities; solutions to such problems are offered.
West Windsor adopted a 
On July 19, 2010, 
A West Windsor resident emailed the WWBPA about a broken button to activate the pedestrian walk signal at the intersection of Alexander Road with Bear Brook Drive and Vaughn Drive as well as two street lights that were out at the intersection.
