West Windsor Parking Authority officials are kicking around a preliminary idea that may help commuters trapped in the congestion around the train station in the morning and evening rushes — a parking lot swap.
According to WWPA Chairman Andy Lupo, the land swap ideally would involve the New Jersey Transit-owned daily lot on the West Windsor side, and the Vaughn Drive lot on the Princeton side of the tracks, owned by West Windsor.
“Over 90 percent of the people in the Vaughn Lot live in West Windsor,” Lupo said. “While we don’t have the statistics for daily parkers, we do know that roughly 40 percent or so are non-West Windsor people. The percentage of people who live on the Princeton side is higher than the folks who live and park in the Vaughn Lot. So, you have people crossing the lots to get to the other lots.”
A land swap (which would not include any construction work) between the parking authority and NJT could ease this problem, but the idea is “truly in the early stages right now,” said Lupo. “We’re trying to figure out what works and what makes sense. We’ve got to do some more discussions with New Jersey Transit on this, but it was something that was kicked around.”
The idea has been discussed at the Parking Authority level over the past year or so, Lupo said. “At some point, it may be a much bigger issue. Right now, it’s at a preliminary stage.”
In related parking news, New Jersey Transit is still working on its request for proposals for construction of a parking garage on the property it owns near the tracks. West Windsor officials, who have urged NJT to build a garage with a retail component, as well as members of the parking authority are still working together, Lupo said. “We’re working with NJT to try to make sure were all looking for the same end goal,” he said. “We’re hoping that RFP is something that is a collective RFP.”
