Republicans challenging opponents’ traffic priorities

Accident prompts discussion

By: Lacey Korevec
   The Republican candidates running for Township Committee say an Oct. 11 car accident on Old Trenton Road shows that the committee has not done enough for traffic safety in Cranbury.
   Democratic candidates Tom Panconi and Pari Stave, incumbent members of the committee, say the committee already is working on safety issues and will continue to do so.
   Robert Smithers, one of the two Republican candidates, sent a letter to the Township Committee and copied it to The Cranbury Press on Tuesday, regarding the accident. He said the accident — in which a car drove through some bushes and flipped over — is an example of why he thinks the speed limit on Old Trenton Road should be reduced and why safety on roads like Plainsboro Road and Cranbury Neck Road needs to be addressed.
   The accident occurred at 9:48 a.m. when the driver, Omiston Howard, 48, of Levittown, Pa., blacked out as he was driving north on Old Trenton Road in a 2006 Volkswagen Passat, police said. His car veered left into the oncoming lane and then off the road and onto some grass and into some bushes, where it rolled onto its roof, police said.
   Mr. Howard was not injured. He was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton for testing to determine why he blacked out and was kept overnight, police said.
   Mr. Smithers said Wednesday that the accident is a good example of why the speed limit on Old Trenton Road must be lowered. He said the car might not have flipped if it had been driving more slowly. He said he believes the driver was speeding.
   "If the speed is slowed down and someone has an episode, you’re going to have less severe accidents at a slightly lower speed," he said.
   However, Traffic Sgt. Frank Dillane, who is investigating the accident, said that based on the manner in which the vehicle rolled over and the extent of the damage, the man was not speeding.
   Sgt. Dillane said Old Trenton Road is not the site of a significant number of accidents, especially when compared to Dey Road and Route 130.
   "As far as the volume of traffic goes, it only reaches a higher volume at rush hour times," he said.
   But Mr. Smithers said that cars speed along the road all the time and that, in this case, the police have no way of knowing whether Mr. Howard was speeding.
   "I don’t think they can say how fast he was going," he said. "They don’t know if he was going 70 or 30, to be honest with you. I drive the speed limit on this road, and people are passing me."
   In his letter to the committee, he said that the "Cranbury Crawl," a township initiative to slow traffic, has failed at making traffic in areas outside of the village safer for residents. Mr. Smithers then asked that the committee work to reduce the speed limit on Old Trenton Road to 40 mph from 50 mph, increase police presence on the road, to clear the sidewalks and walkways on the road for pedestrian safety, to re-evaluate bus stops on the road and the crosswalk near Washington Drive and to consider fencing areas of Cranbury-Millstone Park, on Old Trenton Road, so that children are safe.
   "These safety hazards pose a clear and imminent threat to our residents’ safety as well as all travelers, cyclists and pedestrians that use its roads and paths," Mr. Smithers wrote.
   In his letter, Mr. Smithers said slowing down the speed on the road will make it less treacherous.
   "While the road is basically straight, and bares no detrimental curves, slowing down the traffic will greatly improve motorist safety, reduce noise and improve the overall quality of life for our residents," he said.
   Ms. Stasi said she read Mr. Smithers’ letter and agrees with the points he made.
   "I think Rob’s comments to the Township Committee are positive, immediate things, as a township, we can consider," she said. "I believe we can always do more and we have to look to do more to address these hazards."
   She said the committee has already begun reevaluating the crosswalk Mr. Smithers mentioned, prior to receiving his letter.
   "Everything else, the committee needs to do," she said. "Those are some immediate steps that he outlined that can make a difference in the safety issue on that road in particular."
   Ms. Stave and Mr. Panconi responded to Mr. Smithers’ letter through a statement written by Ms. Stave that was faxed to The Cranbury Press on Wednesday.
   The statement reflects the response of the candidates and not the Township Committee, Ms. Stave said. In the statement, Ms. Stave said the committee has been working to try and reduce speed limits and eliminate the passing zones on county roads in the township for a long time.
   "Over the years, the township has appealed to the county to lower the speed limit, and, in fact, we have been successful in this effort on the section of road running through Cranbury Green," she said. "On several occasions, the township has considered taking over ownership of Old Trenton Road, but the concept has always been tabled because of the burden it would present to the taxpayer for long-term maintenance of the roadway itself."
   She also said the township has already addressed Mr. Smithers’ proposal to increase police safety on the road as well.
   "Increasing the random police presence is, in fact, one purpose of the ‘Cranbury Crawl,’ which does not only apply to the village proper," she said.
   The township notifies residents about landscape overgrowth on roads, especially in areas where it may present a safety factor, she said, but the township cannot take on the task of clearing the brush for residents.
   "For the township to undertake the expense of doing the clearing for residents and charging them for the service, would set a community-wide precedent that would inevitably increase the costs to all taxpayers for labor and equipment," she said.
   In addition, she said it is the up to the Board of Education to establish bus routes, not the committee, and that the crosswalk Mr. Smithers mentioned is already planned for discussion at the Nov. 13 committee meeting, where the committee will review its progress on traffic issues and listen to residents’ feedback. Ms. Stave said she welcomes suggestions from community members.
   Sgt. Dillane said the township does not have the authority to change the speed limit — that is up to Middlesex County and the state. He said that speeds limits are determined mainly based on the straight or winding nature of the road and what is built along it. Because there has been little new development on the road, he does not believe the county would agree to lower the speed limit.