Roadway improvements continue throughout West Windsor.
While permanent improvements are still a long way from being implemented, traffic analysis study equipment has been seen along Cranbury Road. “We are very glad to see this,” says Scott Davis, a member of the Cranbury Road Sidewalk and Safety Project. “But we need to keep the group energized and keep people informed.”
Davis notes that the format of the public meetings to review options for a solution to the pedestrian and traffic challenges on Cranbury Road, seems to be “fairly restrictive, and not as interactive as we had hoped. Plus, we did not realize that one of the three public meetings was going to be the [town council] meeting where the preliminary study was unveiled. And the third meeting will be an explanation of which option the township has chosen to pursue.”
“That means the second public meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for Monday, June 30, is the most important meeting for us, because it is the only one where our input over the various options can be heard,” Davis says.
“To that end, we are trying to keep everyone informed. The deadline for the survey has just passed, and we are waiting for preliminary results from the township. In addition, I have made up leaflets that list the important dates in the process, and have been handing them out to residents and businesses all along Cranbury Road from the Ellsworth Center to Rabbit Hill Road, and to the subdivisions abutting Cranbury Road as well.”
Davis says that everyone in the area is affected, including the local businesses, which will benefit from having easier bike and pedestrian access to the shopping centers. He will be meeting with businesses to gain their support and develop a united front for the project. He recently met with Shawn Ellsworth, owner of the soon-to-be-expanded retail center at Cranbury and Princeton-Hightstown roads, and hopes to meet with other business owners and managers in the near future.
“But the most important thing is to keep the residents energized and informed. That’s one of the reasons we held the Cranbury Road clean-up on April 6. Our next event is a Cranbury Road block party, which will be held at Van Nest Park on Saturday, May 3, at 2 p.m. Anyone with any interest in the Cranbury Road project is welcome. We will be disseminating information, meeting and greeting neighbors and residents. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and Council member Peter Mendonez will attend, so people will have the opportunity to speak to them in an informal setting,” says Davis.
Project founder and Cranbury Road resident Sarah Thomson also spoke highly of the clean-up project. “The purpose was two-fold: to keep attention focused on what we are trying to do for Cranbury Road and the town, and to bring our neighborhood together. People — many still driving too fast — had to slow down when they saw us doing the clean-up, so that helped remind them of the speed limit, in a productive way. The roadway, especially by the bridge, looked wonderful when we finished.”
“But the most important part was how we came together and helped each other. For example, Santiago Guzman, who owns Guzman Landscaping, was driving past us with his crew, and they stopped and helped us with the clean-up. Their assistance was greatly appreciated,” says Thomson.
“Another benefit to the clean-up was that we found someone’s wallet, with credit cards and other ID in it. We contacted the police, who came to the clean-up so that they could return the wallet, which had apparently been taken and dumped there. This was a really tangible benefit of our project,” she says.
Improvements at Station. A new walkway has been constructed over the wetlands between the new Vaughn Drive parking lot and the train station, allowing pedestrians and cyclists unimpeded access to the train station.
Regarding the work around the train station, community development director Pat Ward explained, “The trees in the adjacent ‘triangle’ piece of property have been removed because we needed to make that a detention basin for stormwater management purposes. This is part of the Old Bear Brook Road closure/ Alexander Road improvement project, which has already begun.”
“Therefore, the contractor who has recently cleared the trees is the same contractor who is handling the work for the egress/exit into the new Vaughn Drive parking lot,” Ward explained. “There will be both a decelerator lane and an accelerator lane from Alexander Road into the parking lot, so that motorists will be able to turn right into the lot from the round-about on Alexander Road [the West Windsor side] as well as make a right turn out of the lot onto Alexander Road. Heading from Princeton towards West Windsor, motorists will be able to turn left into the lot, but will not be able to turn left onto Alexander Road when exiting the lot.
“They appear to be moving quickly. We expect the project will be completed in a few months, weather permitting,” Ward added.
Finally, the roadway in the circle itself has recently been fixed by the Department of Transportation. “This roadway project was a DOT project,” said Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, “and was still under warranty. What had happened was that throughout the winter, the roadway was damaged by frost heaves because of the bad weather. We contacted DOT and asked them to fix the roadway, but they were delayed. We then asked them to give us the money so that we could fix it ourselves, because we felt that they were taking too long. However, they wouldn’t agree to that, and we couldn’t just fix it because that would have voided the warranty. But we did continue to remind them.”
“First they had to dig up the faulty asphalt, but before they could replace it, they were hampered by rain. So a ditch of sorts was created in the roadway, which led to traffic delays. However, we had a period of dry weather, and now it is fixed,” said Hsueh.
