Building a Bicycle and
Pedestrian Friendly Community
Wednesday, May 1 by JerryFoster
Please join us Wednesday, May 15 at 7pm at the West Windsor Municipal Center for the Ride of Silence, to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Please arrive early enough to be ready to leave at 7pm. The ride is a free national event that features slow riding, helmeted bicycists on public roads, see: http://rideofsilence.org/main.php
Tuesday, April 23 by JerryFoster
Please join us at the Farmers Market on Saturday May 18 to help teach kids (and any adults who care to try) to learn how to bike.
We use a safe and effective method that teaches kids to balance on their bikes without pedals or training wheels. Then the pedals go back on and we review how to start and stop. No clutching the back of the seat! Children generally learn pretty quickly, though they may need more practice the next day or two. It works! We’ve already taught more than 100 kids. Watch the video from our first class!
To register or volunteer, please send us an email at wwbikeped@gmail.com. If you’re not already a member, we ask that you join us (at least at the $25 Adult level, please consider the $40 Family membership). We’re an all-volunteer private 501(c)3 organization, so your membership donation is tax deductible.
Hope to see you there!
3 Comments »
Saturday, March 30 by JerryFoster
The WWBPA has long been concerned about safety along Clarksville Rd, especially after a pedestrian was seriously injured while walking his dog at the intersection of North Post Road, near the municipal complex. Mercer County’s proposed changes (pictured) partly address and partly heighten these concerns, and should be remedied to make all legs of the intersection safer.
Following up on our letter to the county supporting the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s recommendations contained in their corridor study, Taming Traffic, we recently followed up with the following letter to the Mercer County Freeholders:
Dear Freeholders,
I am writing regarding the upcoming ordinance on the intersection of Clarksville and North Post Roads in West Windsor. As a citizen living very close to this intersection I observe the daily interactions of vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. As a trustee of The West Windsor Pedestrian and Bicycle Alliance I am concerned with all aspects of safe streets for pedestrians and bicyclists and want the County as well as the Township to remain committed to Complete Streets planning for safe bicycle routes everywhere.
The plans for North Post Road are very troubling. Heading south towards Conover, unlike all the other intersection approaches, there are three lanes of vehicle traffic instead of two.
My concern is safety for children and adults crossing this portion of the intersection heading to the Mercer County Library, Municipal Building, Senior Center and Post Office. This crosswalk is heavily used by pedestrians and the increase of vehicle lanes to four across is extremely unsafe for pedestrians, and there is no safe lane for bikes.
The second area of concern is the north side of the intersection on North Post Road. The plan shows a 17 foot lane with no provision for a separate bicycle lane, or even a shoulder. There is more than enough room for a vehicle lane as well as a bicycle lane, and this heavily used part of our town needs to have that bicycle lane marked. North Post Road is a popular route to and from the Municipal Complex and County Library and to and from the train station as well as the very popular Farmers Market.
The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance sent a letter in September 2012, supporting changes to this intersection as described in the 2007 report from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (“Taming Traffic” p.38; diagram p.37). We strongly request you follow through with improving the safety here by following that plan (which does not include any separate right turn only lane).
Clarksville Road divides our community in two if traffic taming measures are not implemented. We need safe complete streets especially around our schools and libraries.
Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the March 28th meeting or would be there for the public hearing. I am asking for you to approve an ordinance with the safety of pedestrians in mind. A four lane road is not a safe road to cross.
Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Brennan
WWPBA Trustee
Please contact our officials with your support for making the Clarksville and North Post intersection safer for everyone – motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Comments »Saturday, March 9 by JerryFoster
Many people regularly bicycle between West Windsor and Princeton, and the WWBPA is frequently asked at the Farmers Market for the safest route to Princeton, which involves crossing Route 1.
We generally recommend Washington Road (CR571) because the traffic circle slows down traffic and lets cyclists make themselves visible to motorists – unlike, for example, the high-speed ramps off Route 1 at Alexander, Meadow or Quaker Bridge roads.
West Windsor Township Council supports this, and adopted a resolution calling on Mercer County to designate a bicycle route along CR571 (West Windsor Twp Council Resolution 2010-R174).
Since West Windsor, Mercer County and NJDOT have all adopted Complete Streets policies, we were disappointed that no bicycle or pedestrian safety accommodations were evident in the jughandle concept design.
We recommend the following safety improvements to benefit both bicyclists and pedestrians who wish to use or cross Route 1:
1. Add a multi-use path at least on the east side of Route 1 from Alexander Road to Plainsboro, to connect the Dinky Line multi-use path behind the Alexander Road offices to the Penns Neck neighborhood and on to the hospital (and wellness center) in Plainsboro. Improved pedestrian and bicyclist accommodation for Penns Neck will prevent this stretch of Route 1 from becoming as deadly as further north in Middlesex County.
2. Create a safe bicycle route crossing Route 1 using Washington Rd/CR571, for example by reducing the design speed of the jughandle linking southbound Route 1 traffic to CR 571/Washington Road, or by creating a stop from the jughandle before turning right on CR571, to allow drivers an opportunity to look for bicyclists. The current highspeed jughandle merge design will create a dangerous condition for bicyclists traveling the bicycle route between Princeton and Princeton Junction train station.
3. Add marked crosswalks to all legs of the intersections.
4. Add bicycle lanes or sharrows to the improved intersections to guide bicyclists and alert motorists to the safest lane positioning while using the intersections.
5. Add a westbound bicycle crossing at Harrison even though there is no motorized vehicle crossing in that direction.
6. Add an off-road multi-use trail crossing Route 1 to connecting trails adjacent to the Dinky tracks, as described in the West Windsor Twp Circulation Element of the Master Plan.
Please contact our officials to support these recommendations.
4 Comments »Wednesday, March 6 by JerryFoster
The Trustees of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance support the proposed Princeton Junction Pocket Park on Alexander Rd between CR 571 and Harris Rd. We believe the park will be a great place to bring West Windsor residents together, to meet and enjoy our continually improving downtown area.
To make the park as bicycle and pedestrian friendly as possible, we will be delighted to donate bike racks, and suggest adding a sidewalk connection to Harris Road, which will be useful for families and students who walk to the park.
We encourage contributions to:
Friends of West Windsor Open Space, P.O. Box 74, West Windsor, NJ 08550
to support the park, and look forward to making West Windsor a more bicycle and pedestrian friendly community.
Comments »Friday, February 1 by JerryFoster
Register for the 2013 New Jersey Bike & Walk Summit and get reimbursed $25 of the registration fee (assuming you’re a WWBPA member – click to join)! Sponsored by the New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition, this year’s summit will be held Saturday, February 23 at Rutgers in New Brunswick.
Click here for the summit announcement, and here for registration.
To get reimbursed, members please email us your registration confirmation at wwbikeped@gmail.com and we’ll send you a check.
Comments »Friday, November 2 by silvia
This quick survey, from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, is your chance to speak up about biking conditions getting to the Princeton Junction train station (and other transit stops you use):
Do you use your bike to get to a transit station? Would you be more likely to bike to the transit station you use if it was more easily accessible for bicyclists or had better bike parking? DVRPC wants your input!
DVRPC, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, SEPTA, NJ Transit, PATCO, and Open Plans are collaborating to determine where investments in bicycle accessibility are most needed. Available online, a new map-based survey allows commuters to select the transit station they use and share their ideas on how transit stations can better accommodate bicyclists.
The survey, available at biketotransit.shareabouts.org, will continue accepting public input until December 1, 2012. The results of the survey will help to shape recommendations for investment in bike improvements at our region’s transit stations. For more information on DVRPC’s Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning, click here.
Comments »
Wednesday, October 31 by JerryFoster
The WWBPA, the Princeton Free Wheelers and the New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition recently sent letters encouraging Governor Christie to spend federal money for biking and walking on biking and walking projects.
Here’s a snip from the WWBPA letter:
“New Jersey’s continued economic development strongly depends on becoming the most livable state, to attract skilled professionals to live and locate their businesses here. As the most densely populated state, we must look beyond roadway expansion to implement an efficient multimodal infrastructure that is fast, convenient and inexpensive.
Biking and walking is key to increasing livability and transportation efficiency. Those who bike or walk not only have fun and stay healthier, those who bike or walk to work or school reduce congestion and pollution for the entire community.
With relatively modest investments by infrastructure standards, biking and walking, especially to and from transit, can provide a viable alternative to driving a car. The return on these investments will save New Jerseyans over $8,000 per year per car. No other investment can have such a positive impact, and few other states can capitalize on this opportunity as easily, giving New Jersey a competitive advantage for years to come.
Under the new federal transportation bill, called MAP-21, states have flexibility in the use of funds. We strongly urge you to utilize all MAP-21 funding programs – including HSIP, CMAQ, and STP – to include biking and walking in all transportation projects.
West Windsor Township, New Jersey’s first Bicycle Friendly Community, has been fortunate to enjoy the benefits of federal funds, for example by building sidewalks near the Princeton Junction train station under a Safe Routes to Transit grant. More needs to be done – please make biking and walking investments a top priority.”
You can join us to encourage our officials to spend biking and walking money on biking and walking by contacting our public officials.
Comments »Saturday, October 27 by JerryFoster
We recently sent a letter to the editor to the various local papers thanking NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson for reopening the Route 1 jughandles in West Windsor, and encouraging our officials to implement Complete Streets to reduce local congestion and build livable, bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities, rather than encouraging further sprawl.
In case you didn’t read it in the Trenton Times or on PlanetPrinceton.com, here’s the letter:
The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance thanks New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner James Simpson for re-opening the Route 1 jughandles last week. We applaud NJDOT’s leadership in recognizing the need to maintain a balance between local and long-distance congestion.
Transportation policy favoring long-distance traffic creates sprawl, which is not desirable for economic, environmental, public health and safety reasons. In contrast, Complete Streets policies encourage sustainable development by creating livable communities. NJDOT’s Complete Streets policy leads the nation, according to Smart Growth America, requiring roads to be designed and built for all users, including bicyclists and pedestrians. Mercer County and West Windsor Township have also adopted Complete Streets for roads under their jurisdictions. Implementation will create viable alternatives to driving that mitigate local congestion.
Implementing Complete Streets in West Windsor, including crosswalks, connecting sidewalks and bike lanes around the train station, has already reduced congestion. We recently counted 355 people biking and walking near the station during evening peak hours, up 18% over last year.
We encourage everyone to reduce congestion and stay healthy by biking and walking for short trips – we even think it’s fun. Although congestion is here to stay, Commissioner Simpson improved livability by reopening the jughandles – let’s do our part by biking or walking to school and work whenever possible.
Comments »
Saturday, October 20 by silvia
The Penn-Lyle Road improvement project near High School South is complete, and its neighbors love it. No longer do school buses block one lane of traffic every afternoon as they line up waiting for students to transport home. At every other time of day, clearly marked bicycle lanes are a pleasure for bicyclists. After the improvements made last year to another stretch of this heavily traveled road, we now have bike lanes down the entire length, improving the bikeability of our community.
In addition, the reconfigured right turn lane, suggested by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (which also has suggested dedicated left-turn lanes in all directions at Clarksville and North Post Roads) improves visibility of approaching traffic from Clarksville Road for cars wanting to turn onto Clarksville Road from Penn Lyle Road, which traffic engineers are sure will cut down on accidents there.
This project, supported by the WWBPA, is another example of Complete Streets that take all users into account, and the traffic improvements have really made a difference. Thanks, West Windsor Township.
Comments »2013 Student Scholarship Application – Due May 5, 2013
| April 28 | WWBPA at Communiversity |
| May 4 | Walk to Farmers’ Market |
| May 9 | WWBPA Monthly Meeting |
| May 15 | Ride of Silence |
| May 18 | Learn to Bike at Farmers’ Market |
| May 18 | Freewalkers Big Walk Metropark to Penn Station, NYC |
Recent Infrastructure
Proposals and Actions
Rt 1 Jughandle Design Recommendations
Clarksville & N. Post Safety Improvements
2012 Infrastructure Priorities
Keep federal bike/walk funds
Road Diet for Canal Pointe Blvd
Biking and walking to transit
Walk and bike to school safely
Downtown Princeton Jct/Rt. 571 Recommendations