Mercer County plans to add a left turn lane from Old Trenton Road onto Edinburg Road as part of a bridge reconstruction project on Old Trenton Road that could happen next year. The road will be slightly widened to accommodate the 450-foot lane, which traffic engineers say should ease the flow of traffic on this road. No other changes are planned for this intersection, which is popular with cyclists.
The bridge that will be reconstructed is on Old Trenton Road between Edinburg Road and Robbinsville Road. As part of the work, a sidewalk will be added on the north side of the bridge (in the event that sidewalks are ever installed in front of the homes there), bicycle-compatible shoulders will be added on both sides of parts of Old Trenton Road between the intersections and a traffic light will be installed at the intersection of Old Trenton Road and Robbinsville Road.
The project will improve safety by replacing an elderly bridge and will set the precedent for accommodating bikers and walkers in the future whenever other improvements are made to Edinburg Village.
Parts of Old Trenton Road could be closed for six months while the work is done.
The WWBPA’s monthly meeting on Thursday will start at 6:30 p.m., 30 minutes early, so that we can briefly go to the informational meeting on Old Trenton Road at 7 p.m. before resuming with our meeting. Both meetings are in the West Windsor Municipal Building.
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Representatives from the Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will present plans for the Old Trenton Road (CR 535) Bridge replacement project and answer questions at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 in Room D (downstairs) of the West Windsor Municipal Building.
Plans for the replacement of the bridge over the Assunpink Creek call for a turn lane and signal controlled intersection with Robbinsville-Edinburg Road (CR 526) southbound and a turn lane at Edinburg Road northbound.? The turn lane will allow the smooth movement of traffic as well as a queuing lane for those cars turning between the two signals.
The design provides a single lane in each direction with a dedicated left turn lane which, due to long queues of left turning vehicles at both intersections, would extend across the new bridge.? The design is documented in the West Windsor and Mercer County Master Plans available at the Municipal building.
The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance wants to ensure the plan also is friendly for bicyclists and pedestrians.
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West Windsor has a number of bicycle and pedestrian-friendly plans that will be funded during the fiscal year that begins July 1. The budget (including the capital budget) is to be introduce at the April 11 Township Council meeting, followed by a public hearing and adoption later this month.
This is what’s been proposed (but items still could be cut). Please let officials know that you support these plans!
An extension of the Dinky Line trail, filling in missing pedestrian connections on a route parallel to the Dinky Line between Vaughn Drive and Route 1. This would be funded through the township’s sidewalk extension program, but the WWBPA hopes it will be treated as a multi-use trail, providing cyclists with a safe alternative to Alexander Road (and eventually extended over Route 1).
An extension of the bike lanes on Edinburg Road, from Village Road East to the entrance of Mercer County Park. This would mean a continuous bike lane from the intersection of South Mill Road and Route 571 (close to a crossing of the Trolley Line Trail) down to the park entrance and almost to Old Trenton Road. According to the capital improvement budget, design work would be done in August and September, followed by engineering work and the preparation of bid documents, and then the actual bidding. Construction is anticipated for August to November 2012.
A traffic light at Canal Pointe Boulevard and Meadow Road. The WWBPA last year supported a letter from a Canal Pointe resident calling for traffic lights (both letters are here) and called for a road diet to help make the road safer. This traffic light is a step in the right direction, but we would like to see other recommendations made in a recent study. Design and engineering work for this was funded two years ago, and the budget would provide the second $75,000 for construction. Construction is planned for between August and October of this year. The budget also calls for funding engineering work for a traffic light at Canal Pointe and Carnegie Center Boulevard that would be installed in another year.
More bicycle and pedestrian improvements are planned in the following five years of township’s six-year capital program.
The? bike-lane extension program through 2016 calls for adding bike lanes along North Post Road between Woodmeadow Lane and Village Road West; Village Road West between the Windsor Ponds Development and Quakerbridge Road; Village Road East between Old Trenton Road and South Lane; Alexander Road between Wallace Road and Route 571/Princeton-Hightstown Road; and Harris Road between Alexander Road and Clarksville Road.
The sidewalk-extension program through 2016 calls for sidewalks on Cranbury Road between Sunnydale Way and Route 571; South Mill Road between Village Road East and Edinburg Road; Millstone Road between Cranbury Road and Plainsboro Township border; Cranbury Road between Clarksville Road and Van Nest Park; Clarksville Road between Cranbury Road and Princeton Hightstown Road; Rabbit Hill Road between Route 571 and Bennington Drive; North Post Road between Clarksville Road and Village Road West; Conover Road between Ginnie Lane and Aldrich Way; North Mill Road between Clarksville Road and Route 571.
What’s missing, in the WWBPA’s opinion, is any mention of completing the sidewalk on Route 571 between Clarksville and Wallace roads. This should be a priority for our downtown and should be done as soon as possible. Watch our video to see just how few gaps there are!
We encourage the township to use money for sidewalk repairs and intersection upgrades to fix a couple of the problem spots in the next 12 months and to consider installing the missing sidewalks for our downtown without waiting for the yet-to-be approved and financed overhaul of Route 571.We know this is an “interim” measure until Mercer County reconstructs the road, but “interim” can be a very long time. It’s also unlikely that the sidewalks would move if the road is reconfigured.
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Mercer County plans to add a left turn lane from Old Trenton Road onto Edinburg Road as part of a bridge reconstruction project on Old Trenton Road that could happen next year. The road will be slightly widened to accommodate the 450-foot lane, which traffic engineers say should ease the flow of traffic on this road. No other changes are planned for this intersection, which is popular with cyclists.
Representatives from the Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will present plans for the Old Trenton Road (CR 535) Bridge replacement project and answer questions at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14 in Room D (downstairs) of the West Windsor Municipal Building.
