By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
After meeting with Princeton area merchants and residents, a plan to close Route 1 jughandles in West Windsor has been delayed until August 1, according to an announcement from the Department of Transportation.
”After meeting with Princeton business leaders, including David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management LLC and Jack Morrison, president of JM Group, where they discussed concerns about the potential impact of the pilot during a traditionally robust period for business, I believe that it is in the best interest of the community to move the pilot program to start August 1,” said NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson. “The concerns and suggestions of residents who raised logistical and other issues at two recent public meetings also contributed significantly to this decision.”
Local businesses and officials are thankful for the change and that the DOT is working with them to consider all needs.
”We are in support of it and understand it needs to take place,” said Carly Meyer, Princeton Merchants Association president. “We are thankful they are working with us collaboratively and taking our feedback and thoughts into consideration for the plan.”
”It’s a good start, start it up in the summer when the traffic is not as intense as it is in the spring and fall,” added Councilman Kevin Wilkes, who orchestrated a meeting between the business community and the DOT earlier this week. “Give the hospital time to move. I’m pleased the DOT has seen fit to push this off, I’m sure merchants will be even more pleased.”
This announcement comes after meetings of merchants and the DOT in recent weeks and two public meetings last month.
At a merchants town hall meeting, organized by Ms. Meyer last week, merchants asked local elected officials to “go to bat for them,” said Mr. Wilkes. “At the DOT meeting they felt their case wasn’t heard as forcefully as they wanted to make it.”
Ms. Meyer said the merchants meeting “was the pillars of our community concerned about the economic welfare of our community” as they discussed their hopes of working with the DOT.
”(The closures) could be a very painful experience for consumers with the redirect up to Scudders Mill (Road),” she said.
”If they can’t get left or right, the cost associated with advertising to draw those consumers back or to continue to bring those customers into Princeton is cumbersome,” said Ms. Meyer. “It’s a whole lot of money that needs to be poured out to get people to turn left.”
Timing of the original pilot, mid-March to mid-June, is a busy season for the merchants, said Mr. Wilkes.
”One restaurateur, Jack Morrision, said the second quarter is his biggest quarter for his restaurants,” he said, “which makes sense with the university graduation and reunions; and the Nassau Inn has weddings.”
Mr. Wilkes said Lori Rabon, general manager of the Nassau Inn, said “we booked a lot of weddings for May and June and we’ve already sent out the driving directions to the wedding parties and the brides sent these directions out to their guests and now we are going to change the traffic pattern and we are going to have the brides family driving off into Plainsboro not able to find their hotel. We don’t have a way to make these changes so quickly.”
Commercial businesses are also affected by the deliveries they receive and the ease of getting their goods.
For deliveries from the Philadelphia area, truckers will have to stay on Route 1 north until Scudders Mill Road, make the U turn at that cloverleaf, reentering Route 1 southbound and make a right onto Harrison, entering Princeton in the northern section of town.
”This has no impact if your deliveries come from the north,” because all three right turns into Princeton will remain open to traffic on Route 1 south, said Mr. Wilkes.
Delivery agents may assess additional fees for increased travel times for the drivers who might be delayed by the closures, said Ms. Meyer.
”It becomes more expensive because these delivery companies have to account for more time on the roads,” she said. “They pass these expenses onto the merchants.”
Another issue was the closure and move of the University Medical Center at Princeton.
In May, in the middle of the first proposed time, the hospital on Witherspoon Street would be relocating to its new location on Route 1 in Plainsboro. The move will take a lot of traffic out of the downtown core of Princeton as people come and go to the medical center, providing a new normal for the traffic flow and “We don’t yet understand that dynamic,” said Mr. Wilkes.
The merchants rationing is how can the DOT claims a normal baseline traffic count when the so-called normal will radically alter when the hospital makes its move.
Hospital officials were consulted before the decision was reached to defer the pilot program, which is expected to benefit emergency vehicles as they travel to the hospital. Peak-period congestion tends to decrease somewhat in summer months because it is a popular time to take vacations.
On Feb. 7, the merchants met for more than an hour with DOT officials, including Mr. Simpson. “The point we wanted to make is the center of Princeton is an economic engine for our larger region,” said Mr. Wilkes. “If we damage that engine, we do so at everybody’s peril. The commissioner clearly understood and said he did not want to do damage to the economy of Princeton and that was not his goal. He clearly understood the argument and didn’t make any promises.”
”I was responding to the immediate needs of the downtown retail community,” said Mr. Wilkes. “This group felt immediately threatened. As it was, we filled his conference table and then some.”

