The proposed construction of 30 single-family homes on a portion of a 90.6-acre lot on Herrontown Road at Bunn Drive, proposed by the Lanwin Development Corp., will have little impact on traffic in the area.
That was the assessment of traffic engineer Nicholas Verderese, who represents the would-be developer and who testified before the Princeton Planning Board at its June 6 meeting. The meeting was the second in a series of public hearings on the application.
Lanwin Development Corp. is expected to present additional testimony at the Planning Board’s June 20 meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at the Witherspoon Hall municipal building at 400 Witherspoon St.
Last week, Verderese explained to the planners that there is not much traffic on Herrontown Road – about 1,500 cars daily. The proposed development would add about 30 more cars in the morning peak rush hour, which is 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and about the same amount during the evening peak rush hour of 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, he reported.
Those additional 30 cars in the morning and evening peak rush hours will have a “negligible effect,” Verderese said.
Turning to the development plans, Verderese explained that the entrance into the development would be a divided boulevard with a landscaped island between the inbound and outbound lanes. He suggested reducing the overall width from 50 feet to 38 feet.
Verderese suggested that instead of a 20-foot-wide entrance lane and a 20-foot-wide exit lane plus a 10-foot-wide island divider between the two, the entrance and exit lanes each could be 15 feet each and separated by an 8-foot-wide island divider.
A narrower entrance to the development would have the least impact on the site, the traffic engineer said.
Verderese said the interior roads would be 30 feet wide, plus sidewalks. Town planning consultant Daniel Dobromilsky recommended a 28-foot width, but the applicant prefers 30 feet to allow for on-street parking.
In addition to creating 30 single-family building lots on a portion of the 90.6-acre lot, a 3-acre parcel fronting on Mount Lucas Road would be dedicated to Princeton for affordable housing. Of the 90.6 acres, 67.4 acres would remain as open space.