Road improvements top agenda for council in East Windsor

By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
   EAST WINDSOR — Roads steered much of the conversation at the Township Council’s meeting this week, with much attention going to those already slated for improvement and a modicum of criticism leveled for work still desired by at least one local resident.
   The council voted 5-0 Tuesday to spend $346,056 to repave and repair close to a mile of roadway, curbs and driveway aprons on Oxford Drive, Sutton Place and Jeffrey Lane near Lee’s Turkey Farm.
   That money will come from the township’s capital improvement fund’s annual road program, explained Mayor Janice Mironov.
   The mayor added that the township had received nine bids, the highest of which would have cost more than $700,000. The winning bid went to Southampton-based Cardinal Contracting Co.
   For an area about a mile south, the council voted 5-0 to move ahead with realigning an intersection some residents have said they consider dangerous into the standard right angle design with a left-turn lane. That action was taken despite the fact the state Department of Transportation indicated it would no longer be the lead agency funding the roadwork, Mayor Mironov said.
   The intersection of Route 130 and Hankins and Conover roads is configured at an obtuse angle, with Hankins Road to the north side of the highway not being parallel with Conover Road to the south.
   Now, the township will be responsible to pay for the bulk of the project from its developer-supported Transportation Improvement Fund, and Mayor Mironov said she will explore having the county and neighboring Robbinsville pick up part of the tab.
   She declined to estimate the total cost until she meets with DOT officials sometime within the next few weeks.
   Meanwhile, there is at least one township resident who says he believes there’s an intersection not getting enough attention.
   Rick Cathers of Hickory Corner Road appeared before the council Tuesday for at least the fourth time in a span of 18 months to complain about what he says is an increasing number of accidents at the corner of his road and Oak Creek Road, including one that occurred just a day prior.
   Earlier this year, at the behest of Mr. Cathers and some of his neighbors, the council agreed to enact temporary measures to control speed near the intersection, including erecting larger stop signs made of more reflective material and painting the word “stop” on the roadway.
   Mr. Cathers told the council Tuesday that the intersection, “still has the same problems. You’ve authorized temporary solutions. When will the permanent solutions begin?”
   Mayor Mironov said she’s waiting for the police chief’s evaluation of the improvements before deciding whether to go forward with additional measures.
   Since the improvements were made in February, Monday’s accident was the first to occur in that area, Police Chief William Spain said Wednesday. He added that it involved a provisional driver who received a ticket for operating the car at an unsafe speed.
   Chief Spain said he hasn’t reached a final conclusion about whether the improvements made the intersection safer, but said, “it’s an encouraging sign that, before Monday, there haven’t been any accidents there since the improvements were made.”
   Conclusions from an upcoming engineering study, to be funded by an $8,000 grant awarded Wednesday to the township by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, could be applied to Hickory Corner Road. That study is being commissioned for an unrelated stretch of Dutch Neck Road that has also been the focus of some safety-minded residents.
   In other traffic-related business, the council, by 5-0 vote, decided to send a letter to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority expressing “deep reservations and concerns” about the authority’s plan to more than double tolls by 2023 starting next year.
   The letter goes on to ask the authority to “clearly and transparently” direct additional funds from the toll increases into projects that benefit state users of the turnpike, and expresses a “deep fear” that trucks may divert onto local roads, clogging traffic and creating safety concerns.
   Deputy Mayor Perry Shapiro and Councilman Marc Lippman did not attend the meeting.