West Windsor Council on Monday moved forward on several bicycle and pedestrian improvements requested by the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance.
Council agreed to spend $19,500 for engineering and design services for pedestrian-activated flashing lights at crosswalks near several schools. One is at Penn Lyle Road and Canoe Brook Drive, near WW-P High School South and where a pedestrian was hit while in the crosswalk. This was a top priority for the WWBPA to see included in the FY 2024-2025 budget.
Others are at New Village Road and Shannon Way, near Village School, and New Village Road and Southfield Road, closer to Grover Middle School.
Once this work is done, the township can seek bids to get the flashing lights installed.
3 possible grants
In addition, the council authorized the administration to apply for three grants:
– a Safe Streets to Transit grant for a midblock crosswalk, including an accessible ramp, on Carlton Place requested by the WWBPA at the behest of residents of the Sherbrooke neighborhood;
– a Bikeway Projects grant to build an 8-foot multi-use path on Edinburg Road from where a bike lane now ends at the east entrance of Mercer County Park to Old Trenton Road;
– a Transit Village grant to restripe Wallace Road between Alexander Road and Princeton Hightstown Road/County Road 571 to create a uniform vehicle travel lane and a variable lane bicycle lane. A uniform width for the traffic lane would also encourage drivers to adhere to the 25 mph speed limit as they go past the train station and the adjacent parking lots.
These grants are highly competitive and there is no guarantee that West Windsor will be successful. However, the WWBPA is encouraged that the administration continues to respond to WWBPA recommendations and continues to work toward making West Windsor a safer and more inviting place to walk and bike.
A public hearing on Aug. 12
Finally, the date for the public hearing on a bond issue to fund the FY24-25 capital budget was set for Aug. 12. This includes a number of WWBPA priorities, including $50,000 for the design of the next phase of the Cranbury Road sidewalk project that will bring it to the Trolley Line Trail entrance on Rabbit Hill and $100,000 for crosswalk safety improvements such as the rapid-flashing lights that will be installed at Penn Lyle and Canoe Brook.
Thank you to all WWBPA members and supporters who have spoken up in recent months to support these projects.
Tags: bicycling, bike safety, biking, pedestrian, safety, walking
An update: the mayor has said the township is talking to Mercer County about this. Clarksville is a county road so it’s more complicated than if it was a WW intersection (such as the one on Penn Lyle)
Thanks for your comment. A flashing light at Penn Lyle and Canoe Brook was a priority for a number of reasons. We did include Clarksville/Norchester in a 2022 letter. As you know, we successfully advocated for a sizeable increase in the budget for crosswalk improvements — but it is only for one year. So we will be back at it in the next budget cycle. We hope you’ll be speaking up alongside us. In the meantime, an email to the mayor and council or a comment at a council meeting explaining why you feel this one should be considered could help make the case (please cc us on any email). And let us know if you’d like to join our email list ([email protected]).
How about the other crosswalk near HS South at Norchester & Clarksville heading into the arboretum?