Now our 4th annual survey, WWBPA volunteers counted 343 bicyclists and pedestrians at 3 locations around the train station on Wednesday September 10, 2014 between 5-8pm. Last year the count was 334, but the numbers are not directly comparable, since we counted at 5 locations last year. Comparing the same locations at the same times, biking and walking increased 24% over last year (which had decreased 18% from the year earlier). The weather cooperated this year, only 80 degrees and mostly sunny, in contrast to last year’s hot (90 degrees) and humid day.
Cranbury/Wallace/571 (Rite Aid) ? 28 bike, 113 walk
Scott/Alexander (Arts Center) ? 34 bike, 106 walk, 2 others
Vaughn/Alexander (bus stop) ?? 18 bike, 42 walk
Total: 343 people, 80 who bike, 261 who walk, 2 on motorized wheelchairs or skateboards
Thanks to our volunteers!
Traffic along 571 in downtown West Windsor flowed freely except from 6:00-6:04pm, likely due to 2 different trains from NYC arriving within 5 minutes of each other.
Other observations:
midblock crossings of 571 at Rite Aid driveway ? 8
male ? 243, female ? 98 (?Other? gender data not collected)
walkers ? 261, cyclists ? 80
male cyclists – 70, female cyclists – 10
male walkers – 173, female walkers – 88
At 571, 4 semi trucks, two traveling together at 7:35pm
At 571, 11 car honks, none directed at cyclists or pedestrians (most re left turning, a few at the 571 merge point where 2 lanes decrease to 1 southbound)
At 571, the vast majority of cyclists wore helmets
At 571, one couple relaxed in the pocket park for about 10 minutes
WWBPA volunteers counted 334 bicyclists and pedestrians at 5 locations around the train station on Wednesday September 11, 2013 between 5-8pm. Last year the count was 355, but the numbers are not directly comparable, since we counted for an hour longer at 2 locations this year. Comparing the same locations at the same time slots, biking and walking decreased 15% over last year. In contrast to the past 2 years’ beautiful fall weather, this year the day was hot and humid, near 90 degrees, as well as falling on the anniversary of 9/11.
Cranbury/Wallace/571 (Rite Aid) ? 19 bike, 81 walk
Scott/Alexander (Arts Center) ? 30 bike, 72 walk, 2 others
Vaughn/Alexander (bus stop) ?? 18 bike, 55 walk
Station/571 (Rep. Holt Headquarters) ? 10 bike, 9 walk
Wallace/Alexander (WW lot) – 12 bike, 23 walk, 3 other
Total: 334 people, 89 who bike, 240 who walk, 5 on wheelchairs, skates or scooters
Thanks to our volunteers!
Traffic along 571 in downtown West Windsor flowed freely throughout the observation time. This is consistent with the comment made recently by the township’s consulting traffic engineer, that volume along CR571 has been flat for a decade. In addition, the retiming of the lights at US1 and CR571, together with the reopening of the jughandles, ensures that not many cars can make it through 571 at the circle, so motorists find other routes.
Other observations:
midblock crossings of 571 at Rite Aid driveway – 12
male – 222, female – 107 (“Other” gender data not collected)
walkers – 240, cyclists – 89
One scary anecdote – traffic turning from Wallace onto CR571 was polite to the pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk, waiting until she had walked far enough so they could turn behind her into the right lane. Traffic turning left onto CR571 from Cranbury Rd was not so polite, seeing an opening to turn into the left lane but not seeing the pedestrian. Fortunately, the 2nd car making the left did see the pedestrian and stopped, as she had stopped in the middle to barely avoid being hit by the first left-turning car. It is exactly this sort of danger that leads many to cross at the driveways of PNC Bank and RiteAid, where the road narrows.
This sort of conflict should not be possible, and several alternate solutions are available – a left turn only phase at the light, a pedestrian only phase, or closing the right lane at 571, making one through lane, effectively narrowing the pedestrian crossing distance in addition to reducing the left-turning conflict. What do you think?
On Wednesday, Sept. 14,?from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., WWBPA volunteers participated in the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, an effort to accurately and consistently measure usage and demand for bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
We covered four locations around the train station, only missing the intersection of Wallace and Alexander roads. We also stopped before the end of the evening rush hour for New York commuters.
Our findings:
1. Cranbury/Wallace/571 (Rite Aid) – 20 bike, 38 walk
2. Scott/Alexander (Arts Center) – 31 bike, 56 walk
3. Vaughn/Alexander (bus stop) – ?9 bike, 31 walk
4. Station/571 (Rep. Holt Headquarters) – 14 bike, 6 walk
Total: 205 people,?74 who bike and 131 who walk
Thanks to our volunteers!
I also noted at our Main Street Cranbury/Wallace/571 location:
8 car horn beepings, including 1 of a cab at a walker and a biker along Route 571 by Sovereign Bank, where there is no sidewalk. Another volunteer reported most of the beeps he witnessed were by cabs; this might need looking into.
3 tractor trailers – there were also some delivery trucks but nearly all cars.
2 runs of a shuttle bus – Stoudt’s East Windsor to Princeton Junction train station.
Eastbound congestion on Route 571 existed from a little after 5 p.m.?until 5:20 p.m., to the extent that cars waited on the bridge and had no room to cross the intersection at Cranbury and Wallace roads. During this time, people turned left from westbound Route 571 onto Wallace Road in front of the waiting cars, and most of the beeps were because of this, since it took two lanes to agree to stop to let left-turning traffic go in front. It would be calmer if the eastbound Route 571 right lane was right turn only onto Wallace Road, and only the center lane was straight through.
1 pedestrian was verbally harassed by a motorist waiting to turn (I couldn’t make out the exact words) as the pedestrian crossed Route 571 from Wallace Road to Cranbury Road. He responded with a loud expletive.
17 people crossed Route 571 mid-block, most at the driveway intersection of PNC Bank and Rite Aid. Some were going to Rite Aid, but most were going to the neighborhood behind Rite Aid, where there is a connecting sidewalk.
How does this compare to past data? The township bicycle plan also studied some of these or nearby intersections at somewhat similar times:
Cranbury/Wallace/571 – Wed. July 21, 2004, 5-8pm – 9 bike, 43 walk
Scott/Alexander – Fri. Apr. 16, 2004, 3:15 – 4:30pm – 2 bike, 13 walk
Scott/Wallace – Fri. Apr. 16, 2004, 4:30 – 7pm – 5 bike, 63 walk
Wallace/Alexander – Wed. June 23, 2004, 5-8pm – 5 bike, 16 walk
We hope to do the count again on one of the nationally designated days. Maybe we’ll see you walking and biking to the station!
Monthly meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month via Zoom. We will eventually resume meeting in the West Windsor Municipal Building. Email us at [email protected] if you would like the Zoom code.
Find us at the West Windsor Farmers Market (Vaughn Drive parking lot) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every other Saturday from May through Halloween.
Now our 4th annual survey, WWBPA volunteers counted 343 bicyclists and pedestrians at 3 locations around the train station on Wednesday September 10, 2014 between 5-8pm. Last year the count was 334, but the numbers are not directly comparable, since we counted at 5 locations last year. Comparing the same locations at the same times, biking and walking increased 24% over last year (which had decreased 18% from the year earlier). The weather cooperated this year, only 80 degrees and mostly sunny, in contrast to last year’s hot (90 degrees) and humid day.
On Wednesday, Sept. 14,?from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., WWBPA volunteers participated in the 