The West Windsor Planning Board has stamped its seal of approval on a concept plan for the reconstruction of Route 571 through the Princeton Junction business district.##M:[more]##
The plan, which calls for a 90-foot right of way at its widest point, the construction of a center turn lane, and left turn lanes at all four intersections in the study area, was unanimously approved by the board at its meeting on September 21. The next stop for the plan is West Windsor Township Council, which is expected to review the plan in the coming weeks.
The plan focuses on the widening and reconfiguration of the three-quarter-mile stretch of Princeton-Hightstown Road between Clarksville Road and the railroad bridge over the Amtrak Northeast Corridor line.
Despite the planning board’s approval, West Windsor is likely still many years, and many millions of dollars, away from seeing the project become a reality. Even if the current plan is approved by the Council, there are still numerous hills to climb before the shovels hit the dirt, including approvals from Mercer County, and state and federal authorities.
Before approving the plan, the board added two amendments dealing with pedestrian and bicycle safety issues.
The first called for the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 571, Sherbrooke Drive, and the entrance to the Acme shopping center to allow for safe pedestrian crossing. The plan shows crosswalks at the intersection but did not call for a traffic light.
According to Gardner, the township’s traffic engineers said that installing a light at the intersection wasn’t possible because it would cause timing and coordination issues with other nearby lights on the road.
“I think at this moment we need to take a very firm position and make a recommendation that traffic control be installed at that location,” Gardner said he announced at the meeting. “I feel the traffic professionals can come up with a solution to the problem if they do a study. There are safety considerations involved. I don’t think we need to be placed in a situation in the future where the public is placed in jeopardy.”
The second amendment to the plan called for the installation of a bicycle lane at the corner of Route 571 and Clarksville Road at High School South. The lane would allow students to make safe right turns from Clarksville onto Route 571. The township will work with the WW-P School District to come up with a plan for the bike lane.
Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner says he believes the plan will be accepted by both the residents living in the downtown Junction area and by Mercer County. The concept was met with support by the residents attending the planning board hearing.
“I’m confident the county will look favorably on this,” Gardener says. “They have been a participant in each and every aspect of the plan.”
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh says that the current proposal was designed in coordination with county professional staff. “If this gets approval, it won’t be a big surprise for the county, because they have been following every step.”
Gardner adds that there also seems to be support from the community, adding that township staff and officials have been meeting with members of the public. “The public has not been ignored. Community input has played an important role in designing this study. It appears that most people feel something needs to be done and that we are moving in the right direction.”
Susan Conlon, president of the Berrien City Neighborhood Association, and a member of the Princeton Junction Neighborhoods Coalition (PJNC), says the current plan seems to respond the concerns expressed by her group.
In March the board held a public hearing to review initial plans for the 571 reconfiguration that showed a number of alternatives for various configurations to the road.
The meeting was held several weeks after an elderly woman was killed and her husband hospitalized after both were struck by a car while crossing Route 571.
As a result of that meeting, township staff devised the preferred alignment that was presented to the board this week.
In response to that initial meeting, the PJNC sent a letter to the township outlining its position on the plan. The group’s main recommendations centered around ensuring safety for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling along, and attempting to cross the road.
“It would seem that the concerns we raised were addressed and are reflected in the plans that we see now,” says Conlon. “If what is being proposed here is approved, we will see better pedestrian access over the roadway because of the crosswalks and bikeways. It looks like an attempt was made to bring the roadway into a scale that is appropriate. This is one of the areas in town where people do walk.”
Conlon says she is also pleased with the county’s response. “We’ve had an opportunity to meet with the county and we feel that they were extremely responsive to our concerns. We would like to see this (plan) move forward.”
“So far, feedback has been positive,” says the mayor. “We tried to turn the whole design into being more pedestrian and bike friendly. With the streetscaping, we tried to come up with a unique design for West Windsor to create a sense of community and sense of place. What we’re doing here is going to tie closely into the transit village concept on west side of the train station.”
Hsueh points out, though, that there’s still a long road to travel before the project becomes a reality. The plan will now go to the township council for a vote. County officials have told the township they will not act on a plan unless it has the support of the mayor and council.
After council, the plan would then have to be approved by the Mercer County Board of Freeholders. It would then go back to the professionals for final design and engineering work. Those final plans would then go to the state Department of Transportation and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).
“If the DVRPC places the project as one of its top priority projects, we would have a good chance to receive money to fund the project from the state and federal governments,” says the mayor.
Funds were originally set aside in the early 1990s for the project, but the money was pulled in 1998 after the township and county failed to reach a consensus on the road’s design.
The proposal divides the road into two pieces. The northerly segment covers the area between the railroad bridge and a point between Clarksville and Alexander roads. The Clarksville segment covers the area from the end of the northerly segment and the Clarksville Road intersection.
The northerly segment calls for the a 50-foot-wide road that includes two 12-foot-wide through lanes, a 14-foot-wide center turn lane, and two 6-foot-wide shoulder/bicycle lanes.
The plan also proposes a 20-foot area on both sides of the road that would include 10-foot-wide planting strips, 4-foot sidewalks, and a 6-foot utility strips.
At the intersection of Route 571 at Wallace/Cranbury roads, the through lanes would be reduced to 11-feet, with a 6-foot shoulder/bike lane on each side. The total width of the cartway at the intersection would be 68 feet.
The Sherbrooke Drive/Acme center intersection is under discussion as part of an application currently before the Planning Board for a 15,”000-square-foot bank/office building developed by CDNJ. The plan calls for left turn lanes and crosswalks on Route 571, and a possible future traffic signal.
At Alexander Road, the intersection is proposed as essentially the same as its current configuration, with the addition of a left turn lane on Route 571 for northbound motorists turning onto Alexander Road.
In the Clarksville section, the center turning lane would start at a point between Clarksville and Alexander roads. At the Clarksville Road intersection, shoulder and bike lanes would be added to both sides of Route 571, increasing the cartway width from 60 feet to 72 feet.
The plan also features left turn lanes on both Princeton-Hightstown and Clarksville roads in all four directions.
Pavers or textured pavement treatments have been proposed at certain locations such as crosswalks and the Sherbrooke Drive intersection. The specific design and location of these treatments need to be determined during the design process.
Street furniture, lighting fixtures, and other amenities needed to provide a unified architectural treatment of the Princeton Junction community should also be determined and provided for during the design process. Special (non-highway) funding sources may need to be identified for these treatments.
A traffic study conducted in conjunction with the study evaluates the current and future level of service at the intersections of Route 571 with Wallace/Cranbury roads, Alexander Road, and Clarksville Road. The study finds that if no improvements are made to the road, all three intersections will operate at the worst level.
Level of service (LOS) is a term used to describe the operating conditions of a road based on factors such as speed, travel time, maneuverability, delay, and safety. The level of service of an intersection is designated with a letter, A to F, with A representing the best operating conditions and F the worst.
The study finds that all three intersections are operating at levels close to failure (D, E, and F), and that they will all decline to failing levels within 20 years. The recommended improvements are intended to keep the intersections operating at their current levels of service, or slightly better.
