A recent accident on a notoriously dangerous stretch of Alexander Road that resulted in the death of a 14-year-old Princeton girl has prompted a new focus by West Windsor residents and officials on the safety of township roads.##M:[more]##
On September 14 Rebecca Annitto, a sophomore at Stuart Country Day School, died in an accident at the S-curve between the Glenview development and the Delaware & Raritan Canal. Annitto and four of her friends were driving home from rowing practice at Mercer County Park when the accident occurred.
The curve is listed as the second most hazardous stretch of road in the township, according to the results of a study presented to council by administration earlier this year. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh last week released the results of the “High Priority Safety Mitigation Study” in response to growing concern of unsafe road conditions.
“While previous administrations in West Windsor may have responded to isolated road problems, I have tried to look at the township as a whole and implement programs that address infrastructure maintenance proactively rather than reactively,” says Hsueh in a letter to the News (see page 2).
The mayor says he directed the township’s traffic consultant and professional staff to review and analyze accident data for a number of locations and provide recommendations for improvements. Those recommendations were presented to council in April. Cost estimates associated with each of the recommended improvements were completed in June and are to be now be included in the township’s six-year capital improvement plan for 2006.
Hsueh points out that the township is working to accomplish improvement of the road as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the town has put up signs in both directions alerting drivers that the road along the curve becomes slippery when wet. The wet conditions of the road at the time of the Annitto accident are believed to have been a contributing cause.
“As elected and/or appointed township officials, we are always deeply affected by accidents that occur in the township that lead to serious injury or death,” said Hsueh in the letter to the News. “While it is true that the township cannot make everyone safe in all circumstances, we certainly want to take actions to improve conditions wherever we can.”
The township study identified unsafe roads by reviewing accident data between 2001 and 2003. It determined 15 locations where the most accidents occurred, ranked them based on a severity weighting, and offered potential solutions to increase safety.
Township administration had hoped that funding could be set aside in the 2005 and 2006 capital budgets to make improvements on some of the roads. During a follow-up at a council meeting in May, Jim Parvesse, township engineer, addressed the unsafe situation at the S-curve.
“Mr. Parvesse noted that this is a high-accident area, with poor drainage and visibility,” state the minutes from the May 23 meeting. He estimated that the project — repaving Alexander Road from Glenview Drive to Canal Road and installing sidewalks would cost at least $200,”000. His recommendation was to fund engineering and design work in the 2005 capital budget, and construction costs in next year’s budget.
A subsequent list of potential capital projects for this year estimates the total cost of the road improvement at $285,”000.
The list of 15 hazardous locations presented to council indicates that Alexander Road is the most dangerous road in the township, with 9 of the 15 locations being along the stretch, and a total of 131 accidents between 2001 and 2003.
The list cites the intersection of Alexander Road and Canal Pointe Boulevard as the most dangerous, with 29 accidents between 2001 and 2003. The s-curve is listed as second, with 18 accidents during the same time period.
The other locations identified, in priority order, are:
• Alexander Road at North Post Road (the T-intersection at the railroad bridge) with 23 accidents. This intersection is slated to be reconfigured in 2006 as part of the reconstruction of the bridge by the state Department of Transportation.
• Village Road at South Lane, with 10 accidents between 2001-2003.
• Canal Pointe Boulevard at Carnegie Center Boulevard with 15 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Harris Road with 14 accidents;
• New Village Road at Village Road/Baxter Place with 10 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Roszel Road with 13 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Bear Brook Road/Vaughn Drive, with 11 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Scott Avenue, with 10 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Wallace Road, with 7 accidents;
• Canal Pointe Boulevard at Meadow Road, with 8 accidents;
• Alexander Road at Carnegie Way/Campus Drive, 6 accidents;
• Meadow Road at Old Meadow Road, 4 accidents;
• Wallace Road at Wallace Circle, 8 accidents.
Annitto was a passenger in a 1986 Mercedes that skidded out of control on rain-slicked pavement at the curve into the opposing lane of traffic, and collided with a 1999 BMW. Annitto died later that evening at Capital Health System’s Helene Fuld campus in Trenton as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
In the accident’s wake, many, including William Annitto, Rebecca’s father, have questioned why the dangerous situation at the curve was not remedied before someone was killed. According to sources, Annitto sent a letter to Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh blaming the township’s inaction for his daughter’s death.
Annitto, who works as the chairman of psychiatry at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, declined to comment to the News on his letter to Hsueh, or his feelings on the curve.
Rebecca’s mother, Michal Saraf, a psychologist in private practice, spoke briefly. “We would be very interested in getting that road fixed.”
She laments the fact that it often takes a tragedy before a problem like this is fixed. “Somehow, we seem to function that way as a society. We have to wait for the worst to happen before something gets done. Look at what happened with the levees in New Orleans.”
The road has also been the subject of a spate of letters demanding action from the township, county, and state to immediately address the problem (see page 2).
“The danger lurking on Alexander Road has been known for decades,” said former South Brunswick Mayor Frank J. Chrinko, in a letter to the media. Chrinko says his granddaughter, Sara Rich, was a passenger in the car and sustained multiple injuries. “It’s time now for West Windsor and Princeton townships to recognize the only solution that will bring an end to this game of vehicular Russian roulette. Alexander Road should be a straight, east-west roadway with a bridge that will span the low lying canal and brook.”
Council President Charlie Morgan addressed some of the criticism of the township in a recent letter to the media.
“Where does a person’s individual responsibility for his or her own safety end and where does government’s responsibility to provide a safe environment begin? Should government bail out fools for the consequences of their irresponsible behavior? Where is the boundary between individual and government responsibility for the risks that people decide to take? And does government inadvertently encourage unacceptably risky behavior when it provides a financial safety net to its citizens?
“The death of Rebecca Annitto is tragic. But what was the proximate cause of her death? Was it a section of road that could have been theoretically “safer” if engineered differently? Or was it excessive speed for the road conditions?
“Would a better-engineered road actually encourage drivers to go even faster in that area than they do now? I rather suspect that no amount of engineering will either change human behavior or prevent the consequences of excessive speed.
“Government certainly should address generally recognized hazards to the public health and safety, but it is impossible for government to make citizens safe. We can make citizens safer, but we cannot protect people from themselves.”
There are cases, though, in West Windsor where fatal accidents have brought about road improvements that improved safety.
In 1993 and 1994 fatal accidents occurred on Princeton-Hightstown Road as a result of motorists making left turns from North Mill Road. The road was reconfigured to only allow right turns as a result of the accidents.
In 1999 a Robbinsville man was killed in an accident at the intersection of Village Road West and Edinburg Road. It was the third car crash at the intersection that week. Several months after the accident, the township worked a deal with Mercer County for the installation of a traffic signal.
Earlier this year, a 79-year-old woman was killed when she and her husband were struck by a car while crossing Route 571 between Alexander and Clarksvile Roads. Within two months the county announced it was making safety improvements to Route 571 including the area of the fatal.
In all three instances, no fatal accidents occured after improvements were made.
