Callie Hancock, Princeton
I’ve just heard some good news about our town. Who knew that a Bicycle Master Plan is in the works for Princeton? Apparently the municipality has received a grant from NJDOT to conduct a planning study of circulation that would feed into the Princeton Community Master Plan. Sounds great — and the public’s input is encouraged! (My thanks to the new Princeton Community Collective group for bringing this to our attention; find the PCC on Meetup.com.) And why should you participate in this study?
As a “non-recreational cyclist“ who tries to ride a bike to work or shop instead of driving a car, I enjoy the fresh air, exercise — and savings! — that bicycling offers. However, getting around town on a bike can be daunting; many of our roads seem friendlier to four wheels than to two wheels (and/or legs). Friends say, “I’d like to take my bike to places in town, but there are too many cars — it just doesn’t seem safe.” And when it comes to our kids, who might relish some transportation independence, it’s even harder to discount concerns about safety. So we drive them everywhere, adding more cars to the road.
Wouldn’t Princeton residents be proud to have a town that is bike-friendly and hence safer for all? Having a Bicycle Master Plan would help improve our quality of life. With this plan, whenever capital projects in our municipality are undertaken, per the Princeton Community Master Plan, these projects will follow guidelines for Complete Streets — streets that are designed to serve all types of constituents, from pedestrians to pedal pushers to powered Plymouths and Priuses.
For this study, we are encouraged to fill out a short questionnaire about biking, on www.princetonnj.gov. (Just search for “Bicycle Master Plan“ and download the Comment Sheet.) According to the website, there will be a public kick-off meeting in September, though the date hasn’t been announced yet. I hope we’ll all hear more soon about this next step that Princeton can take toward having Complete Streets.
Callie Hancock
Princeton
