By Philip Sean Curren, Staff Writer
Princeton Council spent about $60,000 on a study by a Philadelphia consulting firm to tell the town how to improve the look of Nassau Street, although officials this week gave no indication when they would start taking up the suggestions., Looney Ricks Kiss outlined and recommended steps the town could take, including the types of trash receptacles, pedestrian crosswalk markings and even the color of street name signs that should be in downtown. The firm said it had studied what Nassau looks like today, from a stretch of Bayard Lane to Moore Street, to see what is working, what’s not and how to address it, in an area of town where the last streetscape project could be as long as 30 years ago., “And it really started with us going out and kind of looking at what’s there and doing sort of a needs analysis, which was also kind of taking a critical look at existing conditions,” said Jim Constantine, principal with the firm, by phone Wednesday. “We noted that there are some real challenges and problems with the streetscape, which is reaching its useful life.”, One of the recommendations is for pedestrian crosswalk markings to be in a ladder style. The firm also analyzed how best to use the limited amount of space on the sidewalks., “If we reassess how we’re using this limited sidewalk space from curb to building face, how can we best use it for a much better public realm?” he said., One idea is to have newspaper boxes “consolidated into a single integral cabinet where possible along Nassau Street,” the report read in part. Another suggestion is to replace parking meters with “multi-space meters” as a way to reduce “the number of poles in the sidewalk” and allow for other “amenities,” the document said., But Council President Jenny Crumiller said Wednesday that the recommendations are not on a “to do list” in the immediate future, rather “but if and when” the town does road and sidewalk improvements., One concern, said Councilman Lance Liverman, are the costs involved in paying for everything, priced in the millions. “It’s a fortune,” he said., Nassau Street is Princeton’s signature thoroughfare, a link along the Old Lincoln Highway that runs from New York to California and seen as the dividing line between Princeton University and the rest of the community. Last year, it was recognized by the American Planning Association as a great place in America., “I think it looks fine,” said Mr. Liverman, the only member of the governing body to grow up in Princeton. Ms. Crumiller said she thought the streetscape looked “a little tired” and “outdated” but was not terrible., To help defray the costs of improvements, the town has applied for a $2.3 million grant from the federal government to pay for installing new sidewalk material, buying benches, among other things, the municipality said. But given that the Trump administration has said it would defund sanctuary cities like Princeton that shield illegal immigrants, the fate of that application could be precarious., Among town officials, there is little appetite for creating a special improvement district to manage downtown and charge property owners a separate tax for any improvements. “I have ruled it out,” Ms. Crumiller said., In the meantime, the town would look to see if it could implement “quick projects,” such as installing a bike corral, an area to park bikes, town engineer Deanna Stockton said Wednesday. The consultant has recommended such bike parking areas go on Nassau Street itself, next to the curb.
