By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR When David Parris of Washington Road went to go to the Township Council meeting on Monday night, he had to drive across his front lawn to leave his house.
That’s because he had barricaded his driveway sacrificing his own convenience to stop the influx of drivers from using his property to do illegal U-turns.
Mr. Parris’ situation has become all too common for the residents of the Penns Neck area since the Department of Transportation (DOT) closed the jughandles at Washington Road and Harrison Street a month ago as part of a 12-week traffic test.
Instead of using the Scudders Mill Road to turn around, northbound drivers trying to get into Princeton have been making rights down Fisher Place, Varsity Road and Washington Road east of Route 1 and turning around in residential driveways.
Various residents echoed Mr. Parris’ frustrations on Monday, reporting they continue to be awakened during the night by headlights shining in their windows or in the morning by the sound of car horns.
”I hear car horns honking at other cars for making the U-turns and K-turns on Washington Road,” said Curtis Hoberman of Washington Road. “I have an alarm clock, I don’t need drivers on Washington Road to be my alarm clock.”
Representatives from the DOT attended the Sept. 4 meeting to listen to the residents of West Windsor and address their issues and questions, but both the public and council appeared to remain skeptical about their issues being resolved.
”What specifically happened is almost impossible to anticipate with the volume of drivers and the individual decisions that are made and we are trying to react to that in real time,” said Anthony Attanasio, the DOT’s assistant commissioner for government and community. “The commissioner has been very clear that any declaration of success or victory won’t happen overnight.”
Mr. Attanasio emphasized the DOT would continue to make adjustments in response to any issues that might arise.
So far, the DOT has increased the signage, adjusted traffic lights and has recently procured state troopers to assist the town’s local police force in patrolling the area to hand out 3-point tickets to violators.
”Tickets have been going out we feel confident that if enough 3-point tickets go out, folks will understand this is not a safe practicable driving practice to take,” said Mr. Attanasio.
Council members George Borek and Linda Geevers emphasized the state should reimburse West Windsor for the costs of having extra police patrolling the area during peak traffic periods.
”This is an unfunded mandate as far as I’m concerned,” said Mr. Borek. “This is not going to go away totally and any help from the state in this endeavor would go a long way to help us.”
The council and some of the residents said the DOT’s recent efforts have made some improvement, but that quality of life for the Penns Neck residents remained increasingly degraded.
Several residents stepped to the podium to list the problems they have been having. Their issues ranged from increased truck traffic in their neighborhoods and negative impacts on businesses to public safety being compromised around bus stops and to pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists.
They were also concerned with the increased traffic due to the school and sports seasons starting back up particularly at Princeton University, which many said would generate a lot of out-of-towners who would be unfamiliar with the recent changes.
Mr. Attanasio emphasized that the DOT remains in constant communication with Princeton University, and the West Windsor administration and police department. He said they would continue to have public interactions and that at the end of the pilot they will analyze the collected data, send recommendations to the commissioner and hold a public hearing to discuss the findings.
Based on the recommendations, the commissioner will decide whether the changes will become permanent.
”The importance of the pilot can’t be lost West Windsor can’t grow and we can’t grow businesses in the state without a well functioning Route 1,” said Mr. Attanasio. “We will remain engaged, listen and do the best to make changes to improve the quality of lives I do believe this will get better.”

