A report from the West Windsor Parking Authority’s own consultants that will project how much more parking, if any, will be needed at the Princeton Junction train station will be discussed at the authority’s next meeting at its offices on Washington Road on Wednesday, August 27, at 8 p.m.##M:[more]##
The report, done by Desman Associates of New York, was scheduled to be discussed at the authority’s August 13 meeting, but according to authority chairman Andy Lupo, the parking authority postponed releasing the report or discussing it publicly since updated projections from NJ Transit and other data has poured in since the report was completed, and officials wanted to incorporate that data into the report.
Lupo said he did not want to risk having some people “come to the conclusions without the board having a chance to discuss it with Desman first.”
“The reality is their projections were based on incomplete information,” he added. “We want to make sure we have everything available so we can say, ‘This is the right answer.’”
The report is an analysis of the existing conditions of parking at the train station, which takes into account the wait list and projections for commuter parking there in the future, Lupo explained. “Desman also wanted to give an independent scrub of the waiting list,” Lupo said. “They needed to confirm some pricing of various neighboring parking facilities. There’s just a little bit more information we want to gather.”
Lupo says the report analyzes a combination of things. “One would be that we do, in fact, need more parking, and what they project is the right number of spaces we would need,” he said. “Then we would talk about the different options of where we place it. Eventually, we have the ability to expand the report to do a feasibility study to see if it makes sense to put parking in based on what the projected numbers would be to finance the structure, if there’s going to be a structure.”
Lupo said the report will offer objectivity from an outside consultant. “Our belief is that there’s definitely a need for additional parking,” Lupo added. “Does that need warrant a new structure or additional surface lot? I think that’s where you need to combine the feasibility study to find that answer.”
That answer will have to take into account whether parking permits will still cost $100 every quarter if a new structure is built. “We know it’s not going to be $100 a quarter,” he said. The question remains how much the people on the waiting list are willing to pay, he added.
— Cara Latham
