At its June 25 meeting, West Windsor Council stopped short of introducing an ordinance to change the speed limit on Village Road from 45 miles per hour to 40. The administration had planned to hold a public hearing at the July 9 council meeting.
At his final Council meeting, Business Administrator Robert Hary informed Council that the proposed ordinance to amend the town’s “traffic and parking” regulation had been discussed since the mid 1990s as residents complained about speeding cars on Village Road, where a fatality occurred as recently as 2009.
Councilman George Borek made a motion to introduce the ordinance — saying one fatality was one too many — but nobody on Council would second the motion. West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he was shocked that the ordinance was not introduced, saying in his 20 years in government it is the first time he can recall seeing any elected local official stand up for keeping a higher speed limit on a much-traveled road and not in favor of abiding by state laws.
Those comments were directed at Councilman Bryan Maher, who stood strongly against a speed limit of 40 along Village Road for two main reasons. First, Maher was very critical of the traffic study submitted by Bordentown-based Remington, Vernick, and Arango, as its report was provided with Council’s packet on the June 25 agenda. Maher said “the study was garbage.”
“The report was a joke. It has no details of the number of accidents, the amount of deer-hits, or kids who play in the area. If we spent more than $100 for this study then it was way too much,” Maher said.
Mayor Hsueh disagreed, saying the traffic study was credible work done by one of the township’s regular engineering consulting firms. But Hsueh says that the study was actually requested by Councilwoman Linda Geevers after the fatality in 2009.
Maher also challenged members of Council and others in attendance to drive down Village Road at 45 miles per hour, saying that it was not a fast speed for that stretch. Maher told other members of Council that he’s driven on Village Road every day for the last 15 years, often heading straight down to Quakerbridge Road with his cruise control set at 45. Maher has never noticed any problems with speeding cars.
“There are only a few residents who live on that corner — only half a dozen or maybe eight residences, and in fact a couple of them were nice enough to put up signs for me during the election. I find it hard to believe there have been lots of complaints,” Maher said.
Maher then called the proposed change a case of “heavy-handed big government,” saying it is ridiculous to change the speed limit on a road traveled by thousands of people each day to accommodate a few complaints.
“If we have a problem with people speeding in the area, send a couple of police officers there during rush hours like they do to control speeding along Penn Lyle Road (where Maher lives) and other areas around town,” he said.
Borek said he agreed with Maher on government intruding into certain areas of township life, but he says the one fatality convinces him to be for a lower speed limit.
“If we lower it, as the governing body here let’s see how it works. If it’s working, fine. If it’s not working and it creates a dilemma where traffic gets backed up, we will see. I think we need to try it though,” Borek said.
Citing the potential for legal ramifications, Mayor Hsueh said the township is obligated to follow the state Department of Transportation regulations instead of just installing stop signs where it believes it would be necessary. He says a case where Hamilton Township decided to add many stop signs served as a wake-up call to other municipalities.
“If you allow local government to make their own decisions without following state law, there will be stop signs everywhere,” Hsueh said.
“The courts would not support any regulations other than state law, so that’s why this will be not only at the request of people in the neighborhood, but also without DOT approval we may face liability after any kind of accidents or court cases,” Hsueh said.
For the mayor, although one issue on one road may seem small, a disturbing outcome would be West Windsor sending a message to the Department of Transportation, the state, and the county that the township cannot be worked with. Hsueh says years ago West Windsor was isolated from most state agencies and government, and in his 11 years as mayor Hsueh has tried to remedy the problems that the old reputation caused.
“We didn’t used to get support from the state and county, and elected officials usually try to do their best here and they don’t pay so much attention to what goes on in Trenton. I’ve changed that in my 11 years as mayor — we had to come a long way to say we have a very good relationship with the state and Mercer County. But all of a sudden, a lot of things we are doing now are hurting that,” Hsueh said.
According to Mayor Hsueh, the total cost of implementing the speed limit change would have been $3,500. Hary told Council that in the 1990s under Mayor Frascella the speed limit on Village Road was reduced from 50 to 45 miles per hour. The current proposal came after the traffic study concluded that “we can or are able to reduce the speed limit to 40 from 45,” he said. He also clarified that the study only stated 40 as a minimum speed.
Mayor Hsueh said he spoke with Council Vice President Linda Geevers over the telephone on Tuesday, June 26, and she said she is likely to support introduction of the ordinance at a future Council meeting.
Also at its Monday, June 25, meeting:
— Council voted to reappoint Mary Siobhan Brennan, Esq. as West Windsor’s municipal judge for a three-year term.
— Council approved a recommendation from the administration to set the municipal sewer rent rate at $3.78 per hundred cubic feet of billing flow
— Council approved the insertion of $4,209.12 from the alcohol education, rehabilitation, and enforcement grant into the 2012 municipal budget.
— To accommodate the reconstruction of the Old Trenton Road Bridge crossing the Assunpink Creek in Edinburg, Council authorized the township’s final application to the NJDEP Green Acres program, asking for removal of green acres restrictions. Hary clarified that this is a Mercer County project.
— Council approved a performance guarantee agreement for land development between the township and New Cingular Wireless, PCS, (AT&T).
— Council approved a developer’s agreement for 113 Cranbury Road between West Windsor Township and Robert Carey White, trustee under the revocable trust of Robert Carey White.
— Council authorized a contract with DM Medical Billings for the period of July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.
Two resolutions were also adopted. First, Council authorized the refund of $28,208.69 in property tax overpayments to various taxpayers. Secondly, Council approved a resolution appointing Susan Roy to the Board of Assessors for the Heatherfield Development.
