Tuesday, March 23, 2004

WEST WINDSOR - The intersection of Route 571 and Cranbury Road remains very dangerous to bike riders and pedestrians despite years of promises from officials to add crosswalks, residents told the Township Council last night.

"We've heard year after year that there would be improvements to the intersection," resident Susan Conlon said. "But nothing has been done."

Other residents of the Princeton Junction neighborhood presented a resolution to the council that listed several safety improvements.

The council approved of the resolution, which calls for swift action by the township.

"This resolution is a good start," council President Kristin Appelget said.

Each of the other council members agreed.

"This has been talked about since 1992. I spent a lot of time on this then, only to see that work put on the shelf," Councilwoman Jacqueline Alberts said.

The resolution calls for crosswalks for pedestrians, room for bike riders and proper lighting at night among other necessary improvements, residents said.

A copy of the resolution was not available to The Times last night.

Conlon, president of the Berien City Neighborhood Association, and other neighborhood residents wrote the resolution after years of township impotency, they said.

"We are very concerned about the safety of pedestrians at the intersection," said resident Meg Chicco.

A Plainsboro man was seriously hurt late last month when he was struck by a car while crossing the intersection after leaving the nearby train station, police said.

The intersection prohibits residents from walking to the nearby ice cream shop, dry cleaners and deli, several residents said.

People walking from the nearby Princeton Junction train station are also at a high risk of getting hit by passing cars, they said.

"We need the mayor to bring this to the county administration," councilwoman Alison Miller said.

Route 571, which is known locally as Princeton-Hightstown Road, is a county highway and any improvements must be run through the county, officials said.

Ken Carlson, chairman of the township Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force, said the task force is in full support of the resolution to improve the intersection.

"It is on our list of dangerous intersections," he said. "It is really begging for change."

The intersection, which one resident called "the entrance to Princeton Junction," has been at the forefront of Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh's recent discussions with Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, a township official told the council last night.

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