Shing-Fu Hsueh, Mayor
There has been a lot of conversation about Canal Pointe Boulevard and reducing the number of lanes from four to three.
First, I’d like to go back to the history of this issue. In 1993, when I was running for council, I met with numerous residents along Canal Pointe Boulevard. Many wanted traffic calming to reduce the speed of traffic and the danger it posed even to motorists pulling into and out of the residential neighborhoods. In 2001, as mayor, I contacted the New Jersey Department of Transportation to request a study of bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly roadways in West Windsor Township. This study was performed together with a bicycle and pedestrian task force that I established, and the resulting study in 2004 became an amendment to the West Windsor Township Master Plan in 2005. In that study, Canal Pointe Boulevard was one of the areas analyzed, and that is where the idea for the reduction of four lanes to three — also known as a “Road Diet” — originated.
In 2008, we contracted with the traffic engineering firm of Orth-Rodgers & Associates to look into the idea of the Road Diet applied to all of Canal Pointe Boulevard in greater detail. The preliminary report was completed in 2013, finalized in 2015, and an open public presentation was given in April 2015. Recently, council requested a work session to be held March 21, 2016, at which an updated presentation was provided.
Throughout this process, the professionals and safety experts have continued to call for a reduction in the number of lanes along Canal Pointe Boulevard. Emergency Services has also approved the approach. The majority of those residents who commented on the original presentation in April 2015 were for reducing the travel lanes from four to two and adding left turn lanes and bicycle lanes. The majority of those who gave public comment at the work session in March 2016 were also in favor of a safer Canal Pointe Boulevard with two travel lanes, left turn lanes, and bicycle lanes.
The most important effect this project will have is to increase safety for all users of Canal Pointe Boulevard, not just the drivers who will avoid being side-swiped and rear-ended, but also the residents who wish to walk and bicycle along the road and access retail services and office buildings across the street. It should be noted that NRG Energy and Princeton University Information Technology Center with locations on Canal Pointe Boulevard are setting up bike share programs that their workers can use during the day. We know that bicycle traffic will increase. It has become clear that Canal Pointe Boulevard has become a cut through and bypass to Route 1 by motorists who have no consideration for local traffic; we must take local traffic into consideration in this roadway improvement.
I have left the decision of a reduction in lanes for Canal Pointe Boulevard up to the professionals and have not involved myself in the dialogue. Unfortunately, it appears that some individuals have what I believe are unfounded concerns about the road accommodating cars and traffic, and rather than trust the professionals, including traffic engineers and the police, to address those concerns opt to keep the road as four lanes, ignoring the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
However, the professionals will look into all concerns that have been voiced, including those of the volunteer firefighters, as the road design progresses. We are not contemplating building medians with trees in the center of the road. We should also remember that the width of the road is not changing at this time, and that if the traffic does increase to an unacceptable level at some time in the future, further design changes can be made. But cars are like water and will seek the path of least resistance. If drivers do not like the delays encountered along a certain path, they will find an alternative.
I continue to view this project as a safety project. And, we all know that the road must be paved. At my direction, staff has worked to find funding to make this happen sooner as opposed to later. But, I request, and expect, council to join me in supporting the professionals and this project of a reduction in travel lanes and the addition of turning lanes and bicycle lanes to ensure the safety of our residents and office workers who drive, bicycle and walk along Canal Pointe Boulevard. We need to protect West Windsor Township from liability claims arising from accidents on the road, which we could have designed to prevent (as required by the municipal insurance coverage policy).
We have seen terrible accidents between cars and cyclists and pedestrians too often in town. We must do what we can to prevent that from happening on Canal Pointe Boulevard. We must trust in the professionals and the experts.
Shing-Fu Hsueh
Mayor
West Windsor Townshhip
