Installation to begin on Rosedale Road and The Great Road.
By: David Campbell
A contractor hired by Princeton Township is expected to begin installing deer reflectors on Rosedale Road today, according to Township Engineer Robert Kiser.
Reflectors are also planned to be installed shortly on The Great Road by a second contractor, with work at both sites expected to be finished by next Friday, Mr. Kiser said.
The Princeton Township Committee unanimously approved spending $22,000 for two brands of deer reflectors on Sept. 13. ARZ Media Corp. of Union will be paid $9,400 and Illinois-based Strieter Corp. will be paid $12,600.
Mr. Kiser said reflectors will be installed on metal posts along the roads at a height of about 24 inches.
About 1½ miles of Strieter-Lite reflectors will be installed on Rosedale Road between Province Line Road and the entrance drive to Constitution Hill, spaced every 40 feet. One mile of ARZ reflectors will be installed on The Great Road between the Transco gas pipeline right-of-way and Ridgeview Road, spaced every 60 feet.
The Deer Management Options Task Force presented a report to the committee Aug. 21 in which it recommended 8½ miles of reflectors at hot spots including the two roads, which were selected as test cases.
The township will split the cost of the reflectors with corporate sponsors.
Caliper Management Inc. in Princeton Township, owned by task force Chairman Herb Greenberg, has contributed $4,000 toward the two initial installations.
Aubrey Haines of the task force has said additional sponsors are being sought to help fund the pilot program on Rosedale Road and The Great Road.
Deer reflectors are designed to create a wall of light when struck by a vehicle’s headlights to deter deer from crossing the roadway. They have been promoted by some as an alternative to culling the deer herd with paid sharpshooters.
Township officials have said deer reflectors are part of a deer-management program that also includes sharpshooters.
Between Feb. 17 and March 3, sharpshooters from the Hamden, Conn. wildlife-management firm White Buffalo killed 322 deer from a herd that had been estimated at 1,600.

