.gif)
|
 |
|
|
Board
approves changes to West Windsor Master Plan
|
|
|
| By:
Emily Craighead, Staff Writer |
11/11/2005 | |
|
|
|
|
Amendments
affirm commitment to build pedestrian and bikeway system
WEST
WINDSOR — The Planning Board on Wednesday unanimously approved
amendments to the circulation, open-space and recreation
elements of the Master Plan, affirming the township's
commitment to build a safe pedestrian and bikeway
system.
The amendments largely reflect
staff recommendations based on a plan drawn up by consultants
Orth Rodgers Associates in October
2004.
Site visits conducted by the
consultants in 2004 determined that roadway conditions in the
township vary widely and that two-thirds of all roadways in
the township are incompatible with bicycle usage, under the
Department of Transportation's bicycle roadway
guidelines.
The Orth Rodgers report is a
design document dealing with the specifics of various
locations, while the circulation plan is a general policy
document, consultant Gary Davies
said.
"Many things in that report can be
used in the future," Mr. Davies said. "The two documents
working together will provide very strong guidelines to the
township in the future."
The ultimate
goal is to build a path system connecting residential
neighborhoods, schools, business offices, transit stops,
shopping centers and community facilities and
services.
Planning Board member and
Environmental Commission representative Martin Rosen expressed
frustration that the Environmental Commission had not received
information it requested about the plan in order to make its
own recommendations. Specifically, the commission wants to
ensure that ecologically sensitive areas won't end up with
trails running through them.
"My concern
is that this becomes an institutionalized part of the Master
Plan before the Environmental Commission has a chance to
review it," Mr. Rosen said.
Township
officials said any new path would require permits, and could
not cross wetlands.
Amendments to the
circulation plan include as goals increasing opportunities for
recreational cycling and walking, and making walking and
cycling a viable alternative to driving. The plan also
outlines guidelines for the types of bike lanes or multi-use
trails that are appropriate in various parts of the
township.
Safety measures added to the
plan include implementing traffic calming and providing
appropriate illumination.
Members of the
Mayor's Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force praised the Orth
Rodgers report and the inclusion of resulting recommendations
in the township's Master Plan.
They also
pointed out specific areas they say need immediate attention,
including the Alexander Road S-curve west of Route 1, the site
of a recent traffic fatality. Clarksville Road at the Avalon
Watch housing complex, where residents often cross the busy
road to get to the shopping center or bus stop, though there
is no crosswalk, is another accident waiting to happen,
according to Ken Carlson, bicycle and pedestrian task force
co-chairman. Clarksville Road is a county
road.
Amendments to the circulation plan
element, which has not been updated since 2002, were confined
to bicycle and pedestrian-related issues. The rest of the
plan, which includes outdated references to the Millstone
Bypass and the Alexander Road bridge alignment, will be
revised and updated in 2006.
|
| ©PACKETONLINE News
Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New
Jersey 2005 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Business 
