Comments sought on Route 518-Route 206 crossing.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY The township Traffic Circulation Committee will hold a second public forum Thursday, offering residents a chance to share their insights about Montgomery’s traffic troubles.
Members of the committee presented their analysis of the problem at a forum in March, including a list of 16 traffic hot spots where congestion is at its worst. At Thursday’s meeting, committee members said, they will focus on one spot in particular: the Route 518-Route 206 intersection.
"The last meeting was a little more ‘What are the problems, what are your ideas?’ " Mayor Louise Wilson said. On Thursday night, she said, the committee will present prospective solutions to some of those problems.
"We’re really going to zero in on the 518-206 intersection," she said. "We’ll be talking about the road projects that are both feasible and important."
Among those projects are a road linking Orchard Road to Route 518 that would traverse the western side of the Sharbell property off Route 206. That project already has been referred to the Master Plan Committee.
The Traffic Circulation Committee also will propose building a back entrance to the Montgomery Shopping Center from Route 518 in Rocky Hill, as well as a road connecting Route 206 just north of Princeton Airport to Route 518 just east of Research Park Drive.
"The objective of all these improvements is to take as many turning movements out of the Route 518-Route 206 intersection as possible," Mayor Wilson said. "These are some of the things that jumped out at us as doable, needed and effective."
The committee also will present the findings of an environmental study it commissioned of the area surrounding that intersection, including the wetland area west of Route 206 through which the Linton Drive extension would have passed. The proposed roadway, which would connect Cherry Valley Road to Route 518, has been the root of considerable controversy in the township.
"From the results of the survey, it appears that the Linton Drive extension is out of the question," committee chairman Bob Kress said.
The forum will be held at the Municipal Building at 7 p.m.