Two plans to extend road still being considered
By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR Lanning Boulevard will eventually be longer, though the planning stages may last through the year.
The East Windsor Town Council awarded a planning and preliminary design contract Jan. 18 to the Morristown-based Louis Berger Group, calling for the extension of Lanning, south of Princeton-Hightstown Road, to allow for better access to the Windsor Hights Shopping Center.
The Lanning Boulevard southern connection was included in the recommendations contained in the East Windsor Township Transportation and Community Development Initiative Study. East Windsor performed a review of all roadways and intersections with a grant secured from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.
The township publicly advertised for a request for proposals for the project and received submissions from eight engineering firms. Mayor Janice Mironov appointed a committee to review the proposals and conduct interviews.
The contract for the Lanning Boulevard Southern Connection Project was awarded to the Berger Group, which specializes in transportation engineering, environmental studies, regional and municipal planning and economics.
Mayor Mironov said two different options are being considered for the road’s extension, though she hopes the town will settle on a design by the end of the year.
Mayor Mironov also said funding for the project including the planning, engineering, bidding and construction management and acquiring any right-of-way necessary will come from the town’s Transportation Improvement Fund.
The fund consists entirely of developer contributions, which means East Windsor taxpayers aren’t paying for it.
The town is considering two different designs for the Lanning Boulevard extension.
The shorter option would extend the street to the northern end of the shopping center, using the nearby bank’s bypass lane. Mayor Mironov said the contract for that proposal will cost up to $85,000.
”This connection would provide an alternative signal controlled intersection for vehicles to safely exit the shopping center and make a left turn onto Princeton-Hightstown Road to proceed westbound,” Mayor Mironov said.
Another option would extend Lanning Boulevard through the vacant land south of the intersection with Princeton-Hightstown Road, pass around the shopping center’s southwestern parking lot, and connect to Route 130 by way of the shopping center’s access. This project could cost up to $115,000.
The roughly 1,500-foot stretch of Lanning Boulevard connects Princeton-Hightstown Road to the town’s municipal building and also acts as an access road for the East Windsor Village shopping center from the east before dead-ending at the East Windsor Senior Center.
East Windsor conducted a traffic study to review all of the township’s roads and intersections. That study recommended the extension to improve the traffic flow between East Village and Windsor Hights.
Extending Lanning would also eliminate the problematic left turn shoppers must make from the northern entrance of Windsor Hights onto Princeton-Hightstown Road for those heading west.
”This pro-active innovative project would provide additional valuable linkages among our community’s shopping centers and public facilities, by allowing safer ‘friendlier’ access,” Mayor Mironov said in a press release. “The mayor and council are committed to continuing to review and identify innovative ways to allow residents to make increased use of our business establishments and public buildings in East Windsor through safer and more convenient access.”
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