Hopewell Borough’s Pedestrian, Bike, and Safety Advisory Committee has compiled a draft report of county roads that provides recommendations to the advisory committee to help address traffic and safety issues on those roadways in the borough.
The advisory committee presented the recommendations to the Hopewell Borough Council and public at the Council’s regular meeting on Jan. 3.
Members of the committee put together an 87-page report that includes recommendations for county roads on Broad Street, Louellen Street, and Princeton Road and five strategies for safety on these roadways.
There are four immediate actions recommended by the committee: the installation of pedestrian-activated all-stop crossing signals and No Turn on Red signs at three intersections on Broad Street [Princeton Avenue, Greenwood Avenue and Louellen Street].
Additionally, with the ongoing replacement of lead piping on Broad Street, the Pedestrian, Bike, and Safety Advisory Committee (PBSAC) recommends experimenting with the use of bollards, landscape designs, and paint on the pavement to eliminate illegal parking near crosswalks on Broad Street.
The Committee also recommends trying out the more permanent road-diet strategies also recommended in the report, which include the installation of an overhead pedestrian flashing sign with radar speed sign attached to the north and south of Hopewell Elementary School; and applying new paint and regularly maintaining all no-parking zones and crosswalks throughout the borough using high-visibility continental or ladder patterning were the third and fourth immediate actions.
Recommendations provided by the committee would be passed along to Mercer County.
The report also focuses on five strategies the committee has come up with that would improve safety on the county roads.
One of those strategies is the Gateway Project. The project creates uniformed gateways to slow down traffic and alert drivers at major entryways in the borough, according to PBSAC.
Gateway Project is designed to force drivers to slow down entering the Borough through curb extensions, median islands, or narrowing the roads.
Intersection and crosswalk upgrades are the second strategy listed in the report. Followed by the narrowing of roads to reduce speeding by measures such as painting parking lanes and curbs or narrowing the road with curb extensions and flower boxes.
The rest of the five strategies include: lowering the speed limit 25 miles per hour (mph) on all streets in Hopewell Borough and extending transition speeds of 30 or 35 mph as far out of the borough as possible; and developing bicycle infrastructure, according to PBSAC documents.
Council President Charles Morehouse called on Councilwoman Krista Weaver to work with Borough Administrator Michele Hovan to work on formatting the actional items in the PBSAC report in efforts to move them forward.
He added that the actionable items if they are understandable, the governing body can make a common front statement to Mercer County.
“This is what we want to do, but it is beyond our reach, because it is not our road,” Morehouse said. “Our goal is to publish the report on a public format and direct any public comment to the subcommittee.”
For more information about the PBSAC Recommendations Draft Report on county roads in the Borough and to view the full report, visit www.hopewellboro-nj.us. Comments can be made to the committee’s chairperson at [email protected].