Municipal and school officials “came to us expressing concern about the students crossing Route 31 in the vicinity of West Delaware Avenue,” said DOT spokesman Timothy Greeley
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
Installation of 900 feet of sidewalk on the northbound side of Route 31 is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
The sidewalk runs south from Broemel Place in Pennington to the vicinity of the Pennington Golf Center, in Hopewell Township.
About midway between Broemel Place and the golf facility is Route 31’s intersection with West Delaware Avenue. The intersection is one of the busiest motor vehicle traffic points in the Hopewell Valley area. There are many shops located near the intersection.
The sidewalk is being installed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT). Municipal and school officials “came to us expressing concern about the students crossing Route 31 in the vicinity of West Delaware Avenue,” said DOT spokesman Timothy Greeley on Friday.
Hopewell Valley Central High School and Timberlane Middle School are located just west of the Route 31-West Delaware Avenue intersection. The latter becomes Pennington-Titusville Road in Hopewell Township.
Mr. Greeley said the DOT “conducted a field investigation of pedestrian safety at the intersection and surrounding area and determined that due to a high volume of school students accessing the area, the sidewalks were needed.”
He said the job will cost about $363,000.
The sidewalk installation project is part of the state’s Pedestrian Safety Program that was announced by Gov. Jon Corzine in 2006, Mr. Greeley said.
”The completion of this project serves as an example of the state’s commitment to ensuring safe pathways for pedestrians, especially in this case, school children — and a success story for the use of the pedestrian safety funds,” Mr. Greeley added.
When asked about the new sidewalk, which will allow students to access favorite eating spots in the area more safely, one CHS sophomore said: “It’s about time.”