Slowly but surely the Cranbury Road sidewalk project meanders along.
Speaking before Council and a dozen or so Cranbury Road residents March 30, West Windsor township engineer Francis Guzik estimated October as a best-case scenario start date.
A“Hybrid Alternative” plan was unveiled at the third Cranbury Road Mobility Study public meeting October 22, and the final report was released on March 20. Proposed is a four-foot wide sidewalk with a two to three-foot buffer on one side of Cranbury Road.
From Route 571 the sidewalk would meander along the north side of Cranbury Road and switch to the south side at Steele Drive. The sidewalk switches back to the north side at a crosswalk near Rabbit Hill Road and continues to the township line.
There are no bicycle lanes, and the one-sided meandering sidewalk design has significantly less impact than the other plans, impacting only nine trees, four steep slope areas, and no utility poles.
Those in attendance, with one exception, voiced support. The main concern: when will the concrete flow?
Guzik outlined the procedural steps. The first steps involve securing approvals from both Council and the Mercer County Freeholders, since Cranbury Road is a county road. The April 2 (the night this edition went to press) special Council budget session also has a Cranbury Road resolution on the agenda requesting support for the plan from the County. Receiving a response from Mercer County may take a month or two, as will finding an engineering consultant.
Certain sections near wetlands will also require environmental permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is expected to take several months.
Work on sections free of DEP concerns, such as the length from Route 571 to Sunnydale Way, could begin as early as October.
Another issue is the impact sidewalk construction would have on property owners. Not only is Cranbury Road narrow, but some houses are situated close to the road. The hybrid one-sided sidewalk plan chosen for the two-mile stretch of Cranbury road minimized the amount of right-of-way acquisition needed, which is a total of 3,800 square feet. Property owners would be compensated for any easement acquired by the township and still own the parcel in question.
Lewis and Catherine Mok said they opposed any frontage reduction. Their house is adjacent to the Grovers Mill Barn at the intersection of Cranbury and Clarksville roads. They have a fence along their front yard, which provides a modest but important buffer against traffic. Vehicles have previously crashed into their front yard, most recently in August.
Cranbury Road residents Sarah Thomson, Samirah Akhlaq, and Don and Ilene Watrous voiced support for the project.
“It’s definitely an improvement, but there are constraints,” said West Windsor Bike and Pedestrian Alliance president Jerry Foster. An important goal, he says, is to achieve “traffic calming” through physical improvements that would support adherence to the 25 mile-per-hour speed limit.
Council Proposes No-Increase Budget
For the second straight year Council will introduce a revised municipal budget with a zero percent municipal tax increase.
Anticipated revenues for UCC fees were increased, as well as $4.825 million in revenues from the fund balance. The township also expects more than $100,000 in additional ambulance revenue after disbanding the Twin W Rescue Squad (see story, page 1).
This year the state Division of Local Government Services authorized a 1.5 percent cap bank; in 2014 it was 0.5 percent. Council introduced an ordinance approving the state’s authorized figure while declining to authorize any additional cap bank.
Council, led by President Bryan Maher, has sought to eliminate tax increases by reducing expenses and increasing projected revenues, while the township has advocated a conservative anticipation of revenue and controlled municipal tax increases to maintain the fund balance as part of a sustainable budget that will preserve services and the township’s AAA bond rating.
Township CFO Joann Louth proposed a $4.35 million appropriation. The fund balance stood at $6.4 million at the beginning of 2015, down $600,000 from 2013. Council supports reducing the fund balance.
Louth advised against using greater resources from the fund balance, which she says is a buffer against unexpected expenses and revenue shortfalls and not a surplus to be spent.
In mid-February, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and the township administration introduced a budget proposal with a 3.06 percent tax levy increase, an increase of around 1.2 cents per $100 of assessed value. That equates to an increase of $60 for a $500,000 home, the average property value in West Windsor. While the township collects property taxes, the municipality receives 15 percent of the total tax bill, with the majority going to the WW-P school district and the rest to Mercer County.
The cap bank ordinance was introduced at the Council meeting Monday, March 30, the budget introduction was delayed. Maher called for a special Council meeting Thursday, April 2, to introduce the budget, the night this edition went to press. Council requested a revised budget documents for review the weekend before the March 30 meeting. Having received the budget documents shortly before the Council meeting, an unhappy Council wanted additional time to review the changes made.
The public hearing is still Monday, May 11, as additional time is needed for the state to conduct its tri-annual audit.
In other news, Council approved a $500,000 County grant for the open space acquisition of the Rosen property and the purchase of a skid steer loader for $32,769.50.
