When resident Sarah Thompson moved from Seattle about a year ago, she fell in love with the community and the area and wanted to walk everywhere. The only problem was she didn’t quite feel safe
By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — When resident Sarah Thompson moved from Seattle about a year ago, she fell in love with the community and the area and wanted to walk everywhere. The only problem was she didn’t quite feel safe walking along Cranbury Road — the street on which her new home sat.
While the issue might be new to Ms. Thompson, the initiative to put a pedestrian and bike-friendly path along Cranbury Road is not a new one. About a couple of years ago, the township pushed for the project, but was forced to put it on hold due to lack of state funding and denied state grant applications.
But now, Ms. Thompson is bringing it back to the forefront and plans on doing her part to raise community awareness and garner support from her fellow neighbors. This Friday, she and her neighbors will be hosting a community gathering outside her home at 109 Cranbury Road at 4 p.m. to do just that.
”It would be great to exercise by walking and riding a bicycle to the Princeton Junction train station without feeling like you’re taking your own life in your hands,” said Ms. Thompson. “I want to be proactive and do something about it.”
To Ms. Thompson and other nearby residents, seeing cars whiz by — often appearing to be going faster than the posted 25 mph limit — to make it to the train station on time is pretty normal. This has raised safety concerns for bikers and walkers on the sides — especially since there are people who walk to the Montessori daycare center located on the road or commute to the train station by foot or bike.
Prior to Friday’s event, Ms. Thompson has already been working at getting support for the proposed bike/walk path. She started a petition that has about 60 signatures and hopes to get that number up to 100 by the end of her Friday event. In addition to local community members, Ms. Thompson invited all the Township Council members as well as Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, who plans on attending to shed light on plans for the project that’s been at a stand-still.
”We’ve been pushing to convert as many roads as possible to become bike and pedestrian-friendly, but it’s not always easy — the number one issue is money and number two is getting 100 percent support from the neighborhoods,” said Mayor Hsueh. “The fact Sarah is doing this is helping secure support from all those neighborhoods.”
Not getting the entire neighborhood on board could be a potential challenge, when and if the township moves forward with the project. Mayor Hsueh recalled when the state provided funding to put in sidewalks from the train station to the municipal complex, but the project was delayed when a few homeowners voiced grievances about the sidewalks being in front of their properties. The matter ultimately went to court, costing the township money that Mayor Hsueh hopes to avoid in future projects.
”We don’t want to waste that kind of time and money,” he said. “We need the neighbors to be willing to help the county and state to move forward.”
Mayor Hsueh said the township has support from Mercer County do the path, but still needs the money to make it happen. The township applied for a $200,000 grant from the NJDOT last year, but was rejected — forcing the project to be put on hold. He estimated a project of that size could cost anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000.
Township Engineer Francis Guzik said the path would be about a quarter mile and run from the Route 571 and Cranbury Road intersection to Sunny Dale Way. Mr. Guzik explained they are still uncertain of how they would go about it — and wouldn’t know until they had some funding to do some surveys and layouts. As of now there are two possible ideas: putting in an off-road path that snakes through the yards or widening one side of the road to allow a curb that’s big enough to fit both pedestrians and bicyclists.
The mayor said the township is reapplying for the grant this year. However, if it is denied again, he said the township would try to work something out with the county and look into setting aside its own money to make the path a reality so the older roadway adheres to the township’s Master Plan standards.
”We would have to sit down with the county to see if the county and the township could share certain responsibilities,” he added. “It’s a county road, but the township wants to see more bike and pedestrian-friendly road designs to encourage people to come to the train station without driving cars.”