Members of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance and their supporters are planning to approach the Township Council on Monday, November 8, to call for review of plans for Route 571.
The WWBPA, which has called on its supporters to attend the meeting, plans to present a draft resolution that would call for the concept plan for Route 571’s “Main Street” to fit the state Department of Transportation guidelines.
According to Jerry Foster, who posted details of the WWBPA’s concerns in an online Google discussion group, the key issue is speed on the road. Speed “affects more than just safety; it also affects the size of the signs that the new owner wants for the ex-Acme shopping center,” he said, referring to discussions taking place at the Planning Board level (see story below). “At the Planning Board meeting reviewing the site plan, several developer’s witnesses testified that the larger signs are necessary because of a safety issues as cars try to read them going by at 40 miles per hour.”
The county’s plans for Route 571, which were reviewed last December, show three lanes — one in each direction and a center turning lane — and sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides of the roadway from Wallace and Cranbury roads east to its intersection with Clarksville Road, where 154 car accidents occurred between 2005 and 2007 alone. The plan also proposes crosswalks and other pedestrian-friendly improvements.
Plans also depicted two lanes in each direction at the three major intersections on Route 571: Cranbury and Wallace roads, Alexander Road, and Clarksville Road — which would taper down to one lane after each intersection.
At the time, residents questioned why the speed limit was not being reduced as part of the county’s plan for the roadway. Currently, the speed limit is 40, and some suggested lowering it to 25 or 30.
According to Foster, “the county has reportedly offered to post a 35 miles per hour speed limit, but if unsupported by design changes, it will only increase driver noncompliance and encourage developers to apply for too-large signs. This takes us away from a Main Street, not toward it, in my view.”
The resolution proposed by the WWBPA calls for a concept design for the roadway that is based on the DOT’s “Smart Transportation Guidebook,” which “establishes flexible and context-sensitive design standards based on the surrounding land use as well as the functional classification of a roadway.”
The design presented in December did not consider the design standards in that guidebook. Doing so would create changes to the vehicle speed, signal spacing, pedestrian refuges, medians, bike lanes, and other elements to create a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly area. The resolution proposed by the WWBPA would call on county engineers to review the current design based on these standards.
HAWK Light for Sherbrooke Intersection? Also in the online discussion, members of the WWBPA advocated the improvement of the crosswalk at Route 571 and Sherbrooke Drive.
They are advocating the use of the HAWK (High Intensity Activated Crosswalk), or Pedestrian Hybrid Signal. The HAWK is a pedestrian activated beacon located on the roadside and on mast arms over major approaches to an intersection. It consists of two red lenses over a single yellow lens and displays a red indication to drivers when activated, which creates a gap for pedestrians to use to cross a major roadway.
The HAWK is not illuminated until it is activated by a pedestrian, triggering the warning flashing yellow lens on the major street. After a set amount of time, the indication changes to a solid yellow light to inform drivers to prepare to stop. It then changes to red.
Foster said the HAWK light could be a possible solution to the “dangerous crosswalk at Sherbrooke and 571,” which crosses to the former Acme shopping center on Route 571. The light is a “good compromise that enhances pedestrian safety, while not inconveniencing motorists like a conventional traffic signal — it only stops traffic when needed.”
