Residents prove walking is a perilous activity
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| By: Shanay
Cadette , Staff Writer |
04/06/2004 |
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Officials taken on tour of Route 571
in Princeton Junction area.
WEST WINDSOR — Giuliano and Meg
Chicco bought their home in Sherbrooke Estates last year
because Mr. Chicco wanted to be able to walk to the Princeton
Junction station to catch a train to
work.
Little did he know he would have to
dodge traffic, walk on roadways instead of sidewalks or don a
bright coat to guard against getting hit by a car during his
daily commute.
"In theory, you can walk"
in the Princeton Junction area, said Meg Chicco. "But the
reality is very different."
The reality
is poor lighting and striping, nonexistent sidewalks,
inoperable crosswalk signals and poor traffic flow — all of
which makes Route 571, a county-owned road, a hazard for
pedestrians and bicyclists, residents
say.
To prove that point, residents
invited township, county and state officials to walk around
the Princeton Junction area Thursday night to get a true idea
of what West Windsor residents
endure.
"People have said, 'I know it's
bad. I know it's bad,'" Ms. Chicco said. But officials got a
firsthand view of just how bad it is as they trudged around
the township, along with a group of
residents.
The group started on Harris
Road and made its way past Crawford Woods, the Princeton
Junction Volunteer Fire Co., the train station, Lucar Hardware
and the Acme grocery store before ending again at Harris
Road.
From the residents' point of view,
the problems are endless at many of the intersections along
Route 571 and nearby streets: Sidewalks end suddenly or don't
exist at all; bushes or awkward curbing make crossing streets
difficult; some crosswalk signals are inoperable or slow;
crosswalks are needed at high-traffic areas like Sherbrooke
Drive; and poor lighting prevents drivers from seeing
pedestrians, just to name a few.
As a
pedestrian walking at night, "You can't really see that far in
front of you," said resident Susan
Conlon.
Drivers can't always see the
pedestrians either, residents say.
The
crosswalk near the Berrien City sign on Scott Avenue in front
of the train station is also dangerous, they said. One side of
Scott Avenue has sidewalks but no lighting, while the
illuminated side has lighting but no sidewalks. Residents say
people tend to walk in the road, just so they can
see.
Many agreed the worst threat to
public safety is the Cranbury Road-Route 571
intersection.
"It's nasty and needs
serious attention," said Ken Carlson, chairman of the mayor's
Bicycle and Pedestrian Task
Force.
Although Ms. Conlon and Ms. Chicco
coordinated the walk, they said safety is of prime importance
to all the neighborhoods around the train station. Many
residents, in fact, contributed to a resolution that was
recently passed by the Township Council calling for the county
to fix Route 571.
The purpose of the walk
was to "to raise awareness about the conditions so that we can
work towards making improvements to make it safer," Ms. Conlon
said.
For many officials who participated
in the walk, the point was well taken.
In
many areas, "there was no sidewalk. It was very dark," said
Assemblyman Bill Baroni, (R-Hamilton) about his trek. "We want
people to walk. We encourage them to walk. (But) you can't
really have a true pedestrian area when it's dangerous to
walk," he said.
Representatives from
state Sen. Peter Inverso's (R-Hamilton) and County Executive
Brian Hughes' offices also joined the walk, along with Mayor
Shing-Fu Hsueh and Councilwoman Alison
Miller.
"Don't think your (concerns are)
falling on deaf ears," said Aaron T. Watson, county director
of the department of transportation infrastructure, to
residents. (Mr. Hughes) made it clear he's willing to hear
your concerns."
However, county and state
officials stressed West Windsor must take the lead in the
charge to make Princeton Junction a safer place for
pedestrians and bicyclists.
Officials
explained the county had asked West Windsor to tag the areas
along Route 571 the township would like to have seen fixed in
the 1970s or 1980s. It's now 2004, and officials claim they're
still waiting for that information.
"What
we're trying to do is work with the township. We're asking for
a resolution where everyone is on board with the same thing, "
said acting county engineer Gregory
Sandusky.
Mayor Hsueh said the township
engineer will work with the county engineer to come up with a
plan for Route 571 the public can consider. "I want to make
sure we work with the county to restore priorities for the
area," he said.
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