At the West Windsor township council’s reorganization meeting, Charles Morgan called on Parking Authority Chairman Andy Lupo to start working on solving the township’s parking problem. “We need Andy Lupo to start now,” said Morgan.##M:[more]##
On Tuesday, July 17, Lupo may do just that. The next public meeting of the Parking Authority is expected to include a discussion on whether the current site of Windsor Compost on Alexander Road is a possible location for a parking deck. Lupo says he has also considered creating gravel lots closer to Route 1 with shuttle service to the train station.
The Parking Authority is an independent five-person entity. Lupo and company do not need the township’s approval to create new lots or build new decks. However, Lupo says he won’t move forward with any plans unless he has the support of the township.
At a June 21 meeting of the Princeton Junction Neighborhood Coalition, Lupo discussed some of the options for shortening the waiting list for a parking spot at the train station. Some 3,”000 are in line for the 1,”000 spaces in West Windsor resident lots, and over 4,”000 are waiting for permits for the New Jersey Transit lots.
Lupo says those statistics are misleading, since approximately 50 percent of the people no longer need the permit when their number comes up. The expected wait time for residents is two and a half to three years, while out-of-towners have to wait five years.
The parking authority first plans to “scrub” the list to remove the names of those who no longer need the permit. More importantly, Lupo says his group could create more parking spaces with or without a redevelopment plan in place. It may be required to do so.
According to New Jersey Transit estimates, by the year 2030 ridership at the Princeton Junction train station will demand 4,”600 to 5,”700 spaces. It currently has 3,”800 spaces.
Fees for the permits increased this year for the first time since 1992. For the Vaughn Drive and Wallace Road lots, the quarterly fee is $100. For the Alexander Road lot, it costs $165 per quarter.
Lupo is now in his second year as chairman of the parking authority. He appeared before council on February 19 and told them residents’ parking permits for the train station are such a hot commodity he believes some are being sold on a “black market.”
Lupo said the Parking Authority had hired three people to check that the permits match the cars for which they were issued, and Morgan offered another solution.
Morgan caused a stir when he was quoted as saying he has a parking pass he doesn’t use regularly and that fees for permit holders should be raised to prevent people like him from holding onto their $400-per-year permits.
The next meeting of the Parking Authority will be Tuesday, July 17, at 7 p.m. at its office at 14 Washington Park, Building 6.
