The redevelopment of West Windsor has been promoted as something that would bring a sense of community and identity to West Windsor. Some of that community was evident on February 22 when more than 400 residents crowded into a Hyatt Regency ballroom to express their ideas and concerns for the project.##M:[more]##
The meeting elicited scores of ideas for how a redevelopment could help solve problems such as parking at the train station, overcrowded streets, a lack of activities and “photo ops” in West Windsor, and a scarcity of amenities for walkers and bikers.
Now the Hillier Group — whose founder Bob Hillier presided over the charrette— has literally gone back to the drawing board to prepare several scenarios that will be presented at the next charrette on Saturday, March 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at High School South. In the meantime, Hillier will post the preliminary drawings twice a week at his office and at town hall and invite criticism and comments from the public. A third and final charrette, where Hillier will put a single design before the scrutiny of the residents, will be Thursday, April 19.
“Come to our office at 500 Alexander Park anytime,” said Hillier. “We’re going to post designs in our lobby and you can comment on them, let us know what you like and what you don’t like while we’re working on them. You can see them at town hall too, but at our office we’ll give you a free cup of coffee.”
Some plans generated at the meeting have already been hung in a display case in the office lobby. The display will be updated twice a week, and will be accompanied by comment sheets for residents to offer their opinions.
“This is one of the best charrettes we’ve done,” said Hillier after the workshop. “We did one the same size in Ottawa, but the people there didn’t have the same energy. People came up with some terrific ideas tonight.”
Among the ideas raised publicly were building a parking garage around the Amtrak power station to mask the eyesore, partnering with Princeton University to build housing for graduate students on the site, and using wetlands buffer zones for parks and bike paths. Many said the town should build more bridges or tunnels to connect the east side of the tracks with the west side, and offered a number of other ideas about how to ease congestion on the town’s roads.
Charrette attendees were separated into work groups of about 12 members each. Each group nominated a leader, and at the end of an hour-long brainstorm session, each leader presented the best points raised at his or her table.
The Hillier Group also collected questionnaires distributed to each workshop table. Groups were asked to rank five issues in order of importance: Cultural, Economic, Traffic/Circulation, Parking, and Environmental. Most groups ranked traffic high on their list of concerns for the project. Representatives offered suggestions for satellite parking systems, park-and-rides, and restructuring Vaughn Drive to be both a connecting road and central location for businesses and activities.
And the project website, www.wwallaboard.com, which includes updates on the designs, also includes a form where residents can submit their opinions whether or not they attend the charrettes. Hillier has also set up an E-mail address for people to submit comments: allaboard@hillier.com.
Prior to the start of the workshop session, several speakers selected by Hillier prefaced the discussion with information on Smart Growth, Transit Villages, parking and traffic, environmental concerns, and retail market analysis.
George Hawkins of NJ Future, an institute on smart growth, said the redevelopment would help the township become less dependent on cars. He encouraged development of housing, both for commuters to New York and Philadelphia and for employees of the area’s businesses. “We have to get employees to commercial places on Route 1 faster. I know a lot of people come to work here from Bucks County, and if we can’t get people to those businesses, the companies could move there too.”
Hawkins urged residents to look toward creating a place where business could flourish at all hours of the day. “Carpe P.M.,” he said. “Seize the evening.”
Hillier himself mentioned the township’s current lack of places to go in the evening. “A nightlife. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
