Bike Ped Plans In Brigantine, Pleasantville and Atlantic City

While Governor Christie talks about the "new normal" for Ocean and Monmouth County beaches the old normal seems to the general condition of shore communities south of Little Egg Inlet. My brief visit to Atlantic City yesterday (away from the beach) confirmed that. I can also confirm that urban bicycling in AC is still a less than pleasant experience. I had plenty of company out there and the lack of accommodations has resulted in an improvised bike riding culture, with cyclists riding every way and place except on the street with the flow of traffic. On the pedestrian side the City is second to Newark in pedestrian crashes per capita.

But the City is doing something about it. NJ DOT in concert with the Casino Redevelopment Authority (CRDA) is wrapping up its bicycle and pedestrian plan and it will be making a final presentation to the public. The boldest proposal - a road diet and cycletracks on Atlantic Avenue, a heavy lift indeed. There is also a proposal for a two way cycletrack on wider and less busy Baltic Avenue which would hook in to a "24 Hour Loop" on the north end of the Boardwalk (which by chance happened to be the section that was conveniently wiped away by Sandy). Look for a public meeting to happen in late January, the plan will have to be approved by City Council although the City and the CRDA have already begun looking to fund some of the plans recommendations

Two of the City's neighbors are also taking advantage of NJ DOT's Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program with bike ped plans. Tomorrow Pleasantville will be holding a final public meeting tomorrow December 6th at the Pleasantville Library between 5:30 and 8:00 pm. The Library is located at 33 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, next to Pleasantville City Hall.

Finally Brigantine is in the early stages of developing its bicycle and pedestrian plan.  The first phase involves filling out this online survey. If you walk or bike in Brigantine and would like to see more improvements (the city already boasts some bike lanes) then please fill out this survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/brigantinebeach).

We cannot over emphasize the importance of the Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program. It is one of NJ DOT's most cost effective tools and has helped them earn a top 10 position in the Bicycle Friendly States program. One of the most difficult things to do these days is to ask a municipality to find tens of thousands of dollars and a reputable consultant to develop a plan to make it easier to walk or bike. If you look at a map of bike lanes in New Jersey you will find that about 80% are in communities that have adopted a plan. You won't find an official NJDOT page, although Googling will give you some access to previous applications. Contact NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian Office for more information

DVRPC awards vast majority of $5.2 million in trails moneys to PA communities

Much of the following is taken from a recent post from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's, Bicycle News.

In late October, the Delaware Valley Region Planning Commission awarded $5.2 million through Phase I of its Regional Trails Program.  This grant program is funded by $10 Million from the William Penn Foundation, and provided money to eighteen projects around the 9 county Delaware Valley region.  However, of those eighteen projects, only two are in New Jersey and account for only $373,000 of the $5.2 million awarded, less than 7.2% of the grant money available.  While this money is available equally to counties and municipalities in both states, the massive bias towards Pennsylvania is because New Jersey communities are simply not applying for the grants.  According to John Boyle of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, "New Jersey communities are failing to come forward and apply for money to build trails in the past few years.  Kudos to Camden County/Coopers Ferry Partnership and Mercer County/Friends of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail for taking the opportunity to expand their trail networks."

These initiatives include both trail design and trail construction in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They extend existing trails, including the Schuylkill River Trail in Phoenixville, the Chester Valley Trail near Exton, and the East Coast Greenway in Tullytown. They connect the existing and planned elements of the regional trail network to neighborhoods through projects like the Baldwin's Run Tributary Trail in Camden and the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail in Lawrence. Finally, these grants support several landmark projects, including the Manayunk Bridge Trail that will provide a cross-river connection between Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township and serve as a destination for bikers and walkers from across the region.

The awards to trail projects include:

• Reading to Hamburg Schuylkill River Trail Gap (Leesport section) – $142,630 (design and construction) – Berks County
• Big Woods/Schuylkill-Hopewell Furnace Trail – $500,000 (construction – Phase 1, survey – Phase 2) – Berks and Chester Counties – Berks County
• Neshaminy Creek Greenway (Phase I) -- $130,148 (construction) – Bucks County
• US Route 13 Crossing – $471,000 (construction) – Bucks County
• Baldwin’s Run Tributary Trail – $150,000 (design) – Camden County
• Chester Valley Trail Phase III – $500,000 (construction) – Chester County
• Phoenixville Schuylkill River Trail Segment – Phase I -- $285,000 (design and construction) – Chester County
• Darby Creek Trail -- $290,000 (construction) – Delaware County
• Lawrence-Hopewell Trail: Lewisville Road Section -- $248,000 (construction) – Mercer County
• Chester Valley Trail Extension – $325,000 (construction) – Montgomery County
• Canal Towpath Spillway Bridge – $170,000 (construction) – Montgomery County
• Tacony Frankford Greenway Trail – $500,000 (construction) – Philadelphia
• Penn Street Trail – $500,000 (design and construction) – Philadelphia
• Schuylkill Crossing at Grays Ferry – $260,000 (preliminary design) – Philadelphia

In addition, the DVRPC Board today approved $125,000 in funding for Camden County’s Kaighn’s Avenue to Route 130 Connector Trail. This project was one of four “early action” projects originally approved for $50,000 of funding in July 2011. The grant has since been revised to $125,000. The other three early action projects were:

• Manayunk Bridge -- $400,000 (design) – Philadelphia
• Spring Garden Street Greenway – $75,000 (design) – Philadelphia
• Schuylkill South -- $165,000 (acquisition for future extension of waterfront trail) – Philadelphia

In mid-December, DVRPC received applications for Phase II of the program, for projects that were seeking planning and feasibility funding. Those awards are expected to be announced in early 2012.

Why are South Jersey towns passing up on possible Bike/Ped monies?

Word is coming in that South Jersey towns are passing up on monies from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) that could be used to plan and design "non-motorized" transportation projects.  The DVRPC which serves Mercer, Burlington, Camden and Glouster Counties in New Jersey (as well as Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania) has a program call Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI) which helps fund the planning and design of local projects that are consistent with regional and state planning objectives.  And according to the DVRPC:

The TCDI program is intended to reverse the trends of disinvestment and decline in many of the region's core cities and older suburbs by:

• Supporting local planning projects that will lead to more residential, employment or retail opportunities;
• Improving the overall character and quality of life within these communities to retain and attract business and residents, which will help to reduce the pressure for further sprawl and expansion into areas without infrastructure in place or planned;
• Enhancing and utilizing the existing transportation infrastructure capacity in these areas to reduce the demands on the region's transportation network; and
• Reducing congestion and improving the transportation system's efficiency.

Unfortunately, the DVRPC had not received enough applicants from New Jersey communities by the original September 1st deadline so the DVRPC has extended the deadline to December 28th.  Hopefully more eligible towns have already heeded the call because there was a mandatory pre-application meeting yesterday.

It's somewhat remarkable that there was a lack of interested municipalities because "planning and design" grants are often harder to come by.  Most grants available to towns are often only available for the construction of projects that are ready to go.

For more information about the TCDI Program see this guide from the DVRPC.

Op-Ed: Shouldn’t bicycle planning and facility design experts at least ride bikes?

When I go around New Jersey talking about the importance of advocating for better bicycle amenities I’m often told by other bicyclists that they are frustrated, fed up and don’t bother even trying anymore. These bicyclists often complain that when they have petitioned for facilities in the past, if something was built, it was entirely unsuited to their needs. The typical complaint I hear is, “Why bother?!?! If something actually does get built, it will just get designed by someone who has obviously never even ridden a bike!” (I’ve honestly heard close to this exact complaint from several cyclists.)

While I can say with confidence that things are indeed changing for the better here in New Jersey, the unfortunate reality is that these bicyclists’ frustrations are well founded and their misgivings are all too often manifested in the concrete, asphalt, paint and steel of many of the facilities designed for bicycle use around the State. And while the professionals that plan and design these facilities may be very well intentioned and completely sold on the idea and wisdom of accommodating bicyclists, the reality remains that if the expert is not an experienced bicyclist themselves, they may continue to be blind to the potential hazards unintentionally incorporated into their designs and plans.

So I propose a theoretical test for anyone in charge of planning and/or designing bicycle facilities. This test would even be helpful for those in charge of awarding grant funds for bicycle facilities, as they would be more capable of critically evaluating the merits of a project and its usefulness for cyclists. I admittedly set the bar pretty high but that’s the point. If a candidate could pass this test then I would have unquestioning confidence with their professional opinions relative to proposed bicycle facilities. So beyond the candidate’s relative professional and academic achievements (degrees / experience in engineering, planning, etc.) the candidate would need to pass the following requirements to be a qualified bicycle planning and facility design expert. Those are:

Mandatory competences –

1. Theoretical and practical mastery of Smart Cycling as taught by the League of American Cyclists

Freehold Bike-Plan presented to public, Borough Council

This past Monday, representatives from Michael Baker Jr. Consulting presented their draft bicycle and pedestrian plan for Freehold Borough before the general public and Borough Council. This meeting brought out a large number interested people, so much that they had to move the public presentation from a small conference room to the larger Council Chambers. Included in the roughly 25 attendees were some heavy hitters in New Jersey bike/ped advocacy including Jim Nicholson, President of the NJ Bike & Walk Coalition, Ann and Mike Kruimer, New Jersey representatives for the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGW), Wally Tunnison who has been instrumental in the development of the Henry Hudson Trail and yours truly of WalkBikeJersey. Along with all the state and regional advocates, there were a large number of local residents who attended the meeting including David Metz of the Metz Bicycle Museum who was also there to receive a proclamation of appreciation from the Borough upon his 95th birthday (Happy Birthday Mr. Metz and long live your museum!). Just about all who were in attendance at the meeting were in support for better bicycle amenities in Freehold Borough.

Overall, the plan presented by the consultants from Michael Baker Jr. was well thought out and clearly showed an understanding of the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. Freehold Borough is a small, older town roughly 1.5 miles square that is the County Seat for Monmouth and is the crossroads of many old highways that still bring a great deal of traffic into town. Similar to the plan they put together for Morristown, the suggestions for Freehold also included a liberal use of bicycle lanes and sharrows on major streets where appropriate, accompanied by a reduction in motor vehicle lane width and limited elimination of on-street parking (the one street that they recommended this last action, they never observed cars parked on the street). They also suggested extending the Henry Hudson Trail further into town using the old railroad right-of-way, which is currently not used and has been the sight of rampant dumping.

For pedestrians suggestions included construction of sidewalks in places without them, particularly in areas that have significant evidence of pedestrian use as seen from direct observation and the existence of desire paths on the side of the roadways. Also suggested was the construction of one or two additional crosswalks on a section of downtown Main Street that had no crosswalks over a stretch of approximately 800 feet.

Bicycle parking oddly enough has been probably been the most contentious issue in Freehold. As WalkBikeJersey has reported in the past, Borough ordinance requires bicycle to be parked only to official bicycle racks, however almost all of those are located in the parking lots behind buildings and in other areas not readily apparent to bicyclist. Most locals feel that these racks are not located in safe places to lock a bike. Despite general opposition from many downtown merchants, the proposed plan does call for bicycle parking be placed in select curbside locations on Main Street, which follows the bike parking standards detailed by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. However, if a curbside parking plan cannot be ratified by the Borough Council, the consultants did provide a “Plan B” bike parking proposal that would provide better parking options if bicycle parking is still not allowed along the Main Street storefronts.

Bike parking in a back lot near the old train station which is now a bus stop.

Probably the most unique part of the plan (and undoubtedly the coolest) was the bicycle map of the Borough that included a Bruce Springsteen bicycle tour. Freehold Borough has many historic sights due to its 300+ years of history and its close proximity to the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth (were a newly trained Continental Army proved it could go tow-to-tow with the British and the legendary Molly Pitcher took command of cannon post when its male soldiers were wounded). Still, Freehold is known the world over for being the birthplace of Bruce and there are many sights around town associated with “The Boss.” While there are eight other historic sights and places of interest in the Borough, there are nine sights uniquely associated with Springsteen and the proposed bike map points them all out.

Also of note was that this plan looked at important destinations beyond the Borough boundaries. With cooperation from Freehold Township that surrounds the Borough, the consultants considered the needs of bicyclists and pedestrian that would like to visit sights like Monmouth Battlefield State Park and other nearby county parks. Also investigated were the needs of people who would need to travel back and forth to a select number of commercial establishments that lay just beyond the Borough.

During public comment everyone who spoke showed support for the plan, including all the local residents many of whom use their bikes as a regular means of transportation around the town. When Mike Kruimer of the ECGW spoke, he applauded the proposed plan and reminded the Council that there are many great amenities in their town to attract bicyclists such as the Henry Hudson Trail and the world-class Metz Bicycle Museum. Mike also reminded the Council that when he comes to town on his bike he doesn’t bring loud music or a loud car but he does bring his wallet, as he pulled it out of his pocket and waved it before all in attendance. Other bicycle advocates from outside the Borough, including myself, praised the plan for being well thought out and a great opportunity for Freehold.

Unfortunately, I needed to leave before the Council saw the presentation for themselves and could begin debate on the bicycle plan. A reporter from the Asbury Park Press was there to cover the story and you can read her coverage here.

"Freehold bike study - NEED HELP"

The below message is from Freehold Councilman John F. Newman. Somehow it ended up in my spam folder so wasn't included in my original notice about the unveiling of the Freehold Borough bike study. If you read on you will get some insights into what the Freehold study has to offer. I've never meet Councilman Newman but it sounds like he's putting his neck out to support cycling so I suggest that we cover his back on this and show up to this meeting.

Subject: Freehold bike study - NEED HELP

Hi,

About one year ago, I was elected as a councilman in Freehold Borough. One issue that immediately reared its head was an ordinance that was passed (before I was sworn in) which required bikes to be parked at bike racks in town, despite a dearth of bike racks.

I railed against this issue, and soon thereafter secured a NJ DOT grant to have a bike-ped study of the town. That study is about to be unveiled to the public for their review and comment, but I am learning of some opposition to the study, namely how it could affect the downtown.

I am reaching out to bicycle advocates so that they can assist me in garnering support to ATTEND the meeting and bring their views of the benefits of a bike-friendly community. Being in Freehold Borough, some items in the DOT study were to link the Henry Hudson trail to the downtown, link the rest of the 1.9 square mile borough to the downtown, and linking the borough to points outside its boundaries, such as the Monmouth Battlefield and other nearby parks. Also, within town is proposed a bike path/trail. This will map out places of historic interest and a tour of Springsteen's Freehold. Of course, the study also takes into account safety of bicyclists and pedestrians.

As noted, there is some resistance. I would appreciate it if you you and your friends could help me by attending the December 20, 2010 meeting. The public portion starts at Freehold Borough Hall at 4:00 until 6:30; then the council meeting starts at 7:00 where a presentation will be made directly to the mayor and council.

Your support and input will be greatly appreciated as well as your comments on the beneficial aspects bike-friendly communities - the concept still has to be sold.

Thank you for your support,

John F. Newman

View Larger Map of the location of Freehold Borough Hall

Freehold to reveal results of NJDOT funded bike/ped study

Around this time last year my colleague here at WalkBikeJersey, John Boyle of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia was rightly incensed about a highly restrictive bicycle parking policy in Freehold Borough and posted a stinging criticism of that policy here on our blog. Well it was my understanding that either from the reading about it here on WalkBikeJersey or by some means of direct communication John got a conversation started about bicycle issues with the borough council.

Now comes word (via a friend who is a member of the Central Jersey Bike Club) that Freehold Borough is about to release a bicycle and pedestrian plan funded by a grant from NJDOT. It shouldn't be forgotten that Freehold is home to the most amazing Metz Bicycle Museum, a true gem of cycling history that literally has international importance.

Below you will find the announcement from Freehold Borough Councilman John Newman about the unveiling of the plan at an upcoming council meeting. WalkBikeJersey will be there to give you a report on the results. I hope the report is as good as some of the others WalkBikeJersey has reviewed lately (1,2) and that bicyclists come out and show support for the project.

The announcement reads:

Hi, my name is John Newman, Councilman in Freehold Borough.

Freehold will be unveiling a study from the NJ DOT on bike and pedestrian safety, etc.; part of the study is making the borough bike friendly and linking the borough to its downtown and to outside the borough, including linking the Henry Hudson Trail to the downtown.

However, the mayor and the rest of council need to be shown that their is support for a bike-friendly Freehold Borough, and that there are benefits for the residents and the businesses. Believe it or not, there is some resistance to a bike-friendly town.

I would very much appreciate it if you could inform your members of the meeting where this plan will be unveiled and ask them to attend and show their support as well as provide comments for improvements.

The meeting is at Freehold Borough Hall, West Main Street, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 20 for comments, and a presentation will be made to the mayor and council at the regular meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Please lend your hand to making Freehold Borough bike-friendly for all.

Thanks,

John F. Newman, Freehold Borough

Hamilton Township seeks comments for bike / ped plan

The following comes to us from the good folks at the Princeton Freewheelers. If you live in Hamilton Township or Mercer County and have some good ideas for the plan please shoot Peter Kremer at PB a line directly via Kremer@pbworld.com.

Parsons Brinkerhoff (PB) is undertaking the Hamilton Township Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan, a study of bicycle and pedestrian safety and mobility for Hamilton Township in Mercer County, New Jersey. This study is being conducted through the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Local Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Assistance Program.

In addition to looking at bike and pedestrian issues within Hamilton, we are also interested in ways of improving linkages to neighboring towns; travel conditions along key roadway corridors; and access to the train station, community facilities, parks, and trail systems, including Mercer County Park and the D&R Canal towpath.

We are very interested in speaking with you about bike and pedestrian safety, commuting and recreation routes, mobility issues, and improving connections between Hamilton and its neighbors. Input can also be provided online at the website for Hamilton Township’s master plan(http://hamiltonmasterplan.com/index.html). Click on the box titled:Your Thoughts or Check out our discussion boards, interact with other residents, and select Transportation, then Walking and Biking.

Please feel free to share this message with your colleagues and fellow advocates. We thank you for your assistance, and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Peter F. Kremer, AICP/PP
PB Americas Inc
(609) 734-7039

Comments Wanted: Moorestown Bicycle Circulation and Safety Plan

As originally report by John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

Do you live or bike in Moorestown, NJ? NJ DOT's Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs are working on bicycle plan and have posted an interactive map online to gather comments from the public about bicycling in Moorestown.

NJ DOT and their consultant Toole Design (who are also working on the Philadelphia Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan) are looking for information about streets and routes you believe are bicycle-friendly, or un-friendly, and areas where you think improvements are needed. The comments will be used in the planning process that is underway to establish a comprehensive bicycle circulation plan for the Township of Moorestown.

You can participate in the planning process by going to the online map located here.
http://www.communitywalk.com/MoorestownBikePlan


View Larger Map
An unusual bike lane configuration on Haines Dr. in Moorestown

The Bicycle Coalition is a member of the steering committee and yesterday I had a chance to go out with the study team to look at conditions on the ground. A mid-sized (15 sq. mi pop. 20,000) built out township, Moorestown already looks like a leader of bicycle use among its peer communities in the region. The township has several miles of sidepaths and a steering committee member reported that nearly one hundred bikes are parked at the middle school on warmer days and even the high school typically attracts between 20 and 30 bikes. Walking to school? We saw a score of parents walking children from school at Baker Elementary.

But there are many problems, outside of downtown the township is spread out and multi-use paths sometimes end in the middle of nowhere or cross major arterials without any signalized protection or traffic calming. And while some roads have great shoulders others are narrow and busy. Getting to the Moorestown Mall which is on the other side of Route 38 is nearly impossible to get to by bike.

This is another example of NJ DOT's free Bicycle and Pedestrian planning assistance to counties and municipalities. It's only open for local governments that are committed to supporting bicycling and walking. To apply for this you need your county or municipal elected officials to contact NJ DOT's bicycle and pedestrian office.

Andy B here again:
Looks like this might be in response to a couple of incidents that happened in Moorsetown a few years back. It's good to see the town following through on its commitment to cycling it made back then.

Also, Toole Design is an excellent firm out of Washington DC that does nothing but bicycle and pedestrian planning. They definitely give New Jersey's own and equally good, RBA Group a run for their money for quality consulting on bike/ped planning.

Interesting Statute of the Month - No Highway Off-ramps Near Schools

UPDATE! (2/2/10) - Zoe at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign commented below that this law is referred to as the "Terrell James' Law." I was curious about that and pulled up what I believe is the final bill language that created the statute below.

According to a NJDOT Press Release from February 7, 2006, the "Terrell James' Law" was (would be) named "in memory of an 8-year-old who was killed in a tragic 1997 accident that occurred on a Newark playground located between two highway ramps."
__________________________________________________________________

I was doing some research again and I came across this interesting little tidbit. The law is only a little more than two years old but it is an interesting bit of legislation particularly for you folks concerned about Safe Routes to School issues. Also, if you follow the link below there is a bit more to this legislation than this one statute.

27:7-44.12 New entry or exit ramp, construction within 1,000 feet of school; prohibited; exceptions.

4. a. A new entry or exit ramp shall not be constructed as part of a highway project if a school is located or is being constructed within 1,000 feet of the proposed location of the entry or exit ramp, unless, during the planning and design of the project, the department determines that the construction is required and that there is no feasible or prudent alternative.

b.Prior to making the determination required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the department shall, as part of its community outreach efforts to identify a preferred alternative design for the highway project, notify the local board of education in whose district the school is located or being constructed, and in the case of a school being constructed by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the authority, or in the case of a nonpublic school, the board thereof, the Department of Education and the members of the Legislature representing the district in which the school is located or being constructed, that the department is considering the construction of an entry or exit ramp within 1,000 feet of the school. The preferred alternative design for the highway project shall not be selected until the members of the Legislature notified pursuant to this subsection have been afforded the opportunity to submit comments to the department. If the department subsequently determines that the construction of the entry or exit ramp is required and that there is no feasible or prudent alternative, pedestrian safety issues shall be included as part of the environmental review undertaken by the department pursuant to State and federal laws, rules and regulations. When the public forum is held as part of the environmental review of the proposed highway project, the department shall present its plan for any entry or exit ramp and the safety measures, consistent with the recommendations of the study required pursuant to section 7 of this act, that are to be included in the highway project.

c.An entry or exit ramp for a highway shall not be reconstructed if a school is located or being constructed within 1,000 feet of the location of the ramp unless the department shall take steps to minimize the public safety hazards of the reconstructed ramp, consistent with the recommendations contained in the study required pursuant to section 7 of this act.

L.2007, c.308, s.4.

Op-Ed: New Mercer County Bike Map Looking for Comments

First I must say that this map is a great start with wonderful potential. It would be great to have maps such as these for every county in New Jersey.

However, the new Mercer County Bikeability Map, while an "OK" start leaves much to be desired. Too many (but no where near a majority) roadways that are relatively safe to ride on are considered "Unfavorable" while others that I would never ride on (and I'm a very bold and experienced rider) are given "Excellent" ratings. Unfortunately I have personally found this to be an all too common problem with many bicycle suitability maps pubilished for New Jersey counties.

Now admittedly, this is a work in progress with the DVRPC, who put this map together, looking for comments to improve the map. I hope New Jersey cyclists that are familiar with Mercer County's roadways go to town on this map and plaster it full of comments to improve it. It is definately a product that has potential and I support the DVRPC for putting it together.

Mercer County's Interactive Bike Map

As report by John and our friends at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia:

Last week the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission launched the Mercer County Regional Bike Map overlayed on a Google Map. This map is intended to be a resource for Mercer County residents and bicyclists to help them plan bicycle-friendly routes to ride, and also to help planners identify priority bicycle corridors and facilities to be considered in the future.

http://www.dvrpc.org/asp/bikemercer/

For the next month or so DVRPC and Mercer County would like your input on priority bicycle routes, and your opinions on the routes submitted by others, as well as any knowledge you have about the bikeability ratings shown here: are they too high, too low, or do they not reflect a specific local issue that you know about? Comments will help improve the bikeability scores shown on the site. Proposed routes and comments will be accepted until Friday, March 12th.

WWBPA does public comments right

Just a few days ago this week the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance released their public comments regarding the redesign of the Main St. section of County Rt 571, Princeton Hightstown Rd. I suggest that any and all New Jersey advocacy groups take a look at their comments since they are very well done and could be used as a model for other groups to emulate. Also, notice who they copied on their correspondence. Their comments can be found here.

Also, for some background information, here is a presentation given on December 15th 2009 that reviews some of the planned "improvements" for the roadway.

View Larger Map
The section of County Rt 571 in West Windsor Township in question.