Neighbors oppose completion of Ward Road
By: Katie Wagner
WEST WINDSOR A plan to connect Ward Road to Westwinds Drive seems destined for cancellation after a four-hour Planning Board meeting dominated by opposition from residents last week.
The planned extension of Ward Road was added to the township’s master plan in 1979. It envisioned a fairly straight path for cars traveling between North Post Road and Penn Lyle Road.
However, a majority of Planning Board members expressed opposition to the plan Wednesday night, after hearing more than a dozen residents speak in opposition to the extension, most preferring construction of pedestrian pathways along the route instead.
At the end of the meeting, the 1979 plan for the extension was rejected in an informal vote by the Planning Board. However, board members appeared undecided on whether to pursue an alternative vehicular road in the face of opposition from residents.
The alternative would be a road connecting neighborhoods located between North Post Road and Penn Lyle Road. Dan Dobromilsky, a landscape architect representing the township, presented a sketch showing this alternative a Ward Road extension with bends, instead of the relatively straight road in the Master Plan. It would extend east, then north and finally southeast.
"In my opinion, I think this would be a win-win situation," said Chuck Chang, a Planning Board member. "It would slow down traffic and help with emergencies. There’s not going to be much traffic, because I don’t think it would be used as a short-cut road."
Several residents, however, responded less positively to Mr. Dobromilsky’s proposal.
"I’m concerned that when more asphalt gets laid it will aggravate areas that already have flooding problems," said Michael Welsh, of 20 Birchwood Court.
Ying Li, of 2 Brendan Place, said she thought any expansion of Ward Road would make playing outside more dangerous for her children.
"I think by building a road over there, it will totally destroy my peace of mind," Ms. Li said. "I think we will lose the ability to let the kids play outside."
Beth Zahorsky, who attended the meeting with her daughter Marni said she wanted to maintain the privacy of her neighborhood.
"It’s a really nice quality of life that I think would be destroyed by the road," Ms. Zahorsky said.
Her daughter asked that pedestrian paths, but no roads, serve as connectors between neighborhoods.
Andrew Kullui of 6 Jill Drive was actively involved in circulating two separate petitions opposing the extension of Ward Road. He read the newer petition, which contained 77 signatures, at the meeting. The majority of the members of the public that spoke at the meeting had signed the petition.
The petition stated that its signers "value neighborhood interconnection, but prefer to see it take the form of pedestrian bicycle paths. …"
The Planning Board members said they would like to hear more alternatives from township professionals and explore other options for the area, including bike and pedestrian paths, before finally deciding the future Ward Road.

