In response to Lucy Vandenberg’s December 2 letter to the News, “WW Transit Village a Model for State,” and as I expect Vandenberg would agree, the Transit Village is a good start, but more needs to be done to achieve the benefits of Smart Growth.
It’s not enough that the Transit Village will “make it possible for people to get out of their cars and walk, bike, and take the train to their destinations.” We must be able to safely walk and bike to and from the Transit Village.
It’s not enough to have compact development — we need a grocery store within walking distance, like the former Acme. Land use law and/or policies must require diverse uses. We need more than banks and real estate offices downtown, so that people have a variety of walkable destinations.
It’s not enough that compact development could be environmentally beneficial. We need specific open space preservation tied to specific dense developments like the Transit Village. It’s irrelevant that other space in New Jersey is already preserved.
It’s not enough to have Smart Growth policies for land use. Transportation policy must support land use policy, by implementing the flexible standards in the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s (NJDOT) Smart Transportation Guidebook.
It’s not enough that NJDOT and West Windsor adopted Complete Streets policies. Mercer County must also adopt the policy, which requires roadway improvements to support walking and biking. Otherwise major roads like Route 571 are subject to expensive but counterproductive “improvements” that don’t meet the township’s goal for “pedestrian-friendly, village scale development.” A wider road with 30 percent more cars going 45 mph, with no place to safely wait in the middle when crossing is not pedestrian friendly.
The Route 1 Regional Growth Strategy is not enough, since it doesn’t sufficiently support redevelopment in Trenton and New Brunswick, the two already compact but underutilized “developments” anchoring the region. With the right policies, much of the region’s growth could fit into Trenton and New Brunswick with far less environmental and traffic impact. Without supporting our cities, the strategy’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will encourage sprawl in outlying areas, contrary to its stated goal.
Respectfully, it’s wrong to promise reduced congestion by implementing Smart Growth, even with Smart Transportation and the BRT system. The transportation network balances itself as people choose to walk, bike, drive, or take the bus or train, depending on the cost and convenience of each. With less congestion, people will drive until there is enough congestion to make another way better.
The Transit Village is a good start but doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We need supporting policies to achieve the benefits of Smart Growth. If Smart Growth just means new and denser development, then it has already failed to achieve its goals.
Jerry Foster
President, West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance
