DOT refuses city’s request for pedestrian light

The state will install flashing warning lights instead along the four-lane highway at Swan Street and Route 165.

By: Linda Seida
   LAMBERTVILLE — The configuration of the city’s main arteries, combined with a low number of pedestrian crossings, will prevent the state from granting the city’s request for a traffic light at Swan Street and Route 165, according to a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
   Instead, the DOT has offered to install flashing warning lights along the four-lane highway to alert drivers they are heading toward a pedestrian crossing, DOT spokesman Tim Greeley said.
   The intersection was the site of a fatal accident earlier this year. A 23-year-old woman was struck by a vehicle while crossing Route 165 on her way to work.
   "It’s a miracle we haven’t had more of these," Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said.
   The short stretch of highway accounts for at least 10 percent of all accidents in Lambertville, according to Mr. Cocuzza.
   "Even 10 percent is significant," he said. "It’s a big deal."
   The warning lights recommended by the DOT would be positioned about 200 to 300 feet before the intersection in each direction, telling drivers to "slow and yield," Mr. Greeley said. "They definitely do what they’re meant to do."
   The DOT operates a similar warning system at Parkway Avenue and Sullivan Way in Ewing.
   Mr. Greeley did not provide the pedestrian count obtained by a DOT regional survey crew after the city requested a new traffic light in September.
   No matter the number, Mr. Cocuzza said there would definitely be more pedestrians crossing the street if they felt safer. As it is, Mr. Cocuzza said, he has had residents tell him they’d like to cross the street but fear for their lives.
   "I’ve been told repeatedly a lot of people opt not to do it because they feel it’s too scary," Mr. Cocuzza said. "More would if they felt comfortable doing it."
   A half-mile stretch of Route 29-165, from state highway 179 to the southern end of Lambertville, is considered extremely dangerous, police say. In addition to the accident that killed a pedestrian in April, that area also sits only about 200 yards south of the scene of another fatal accident that occurred in 2000 when a tractor-trailer plowed into a video store.
   City officials say what is needed there is a pedestrian-activated traffic light, one that will bring traffic to a complete stop, allowing for safer pedestrian crossings.
   Lambertville is considered a pedestrian-friendly city where walking is favored and encouraged.
   There is no bus service for children who attend the elementary school on North Main Street. Many of the children walk to school, but if they live on a hill on the other side of the highway, many, if not most, of their parents drive them to school, Mr. Cocuzza said.
   The DOT says the configuration of the main arteries in that area would preclude a traffic light. Two roads, Route 518 and Quarry Street, empty traffic onto the main thoroughfare. Also, the site sits not far from Bridge Street where traffic crosses the bridge into New Jersey from Pennsylvania. Plus, there is north- and south-bound traffic along Route 29.
   A traffic light that will stop all vehicles "is the safest way to ensure they’ll honor a crosswalk," Mr. Cocuzza said.
   The flashing lights recommended by the DOT "may slow them. It won’t stop them," Mr. Cocuzza said. "I’m not crazy about the idea, but if that’s what they feel is the best solution, I guess it’s better than nothing."
   The flashing warning lights cannot be installed without a resolution of agreement from the city’s governing body, Mr. Greeley said.
   City officials first need time to discuss the matter, according to Mayor David Del Vecchio.
   He said, "We’ll look at what they gave us to make certain that it meets our needs in terms of what we’re looking for, and we’ll respond accordingly with the department."