Pls Support the Conover Rd Multi-Use Path

[Jerry Foster]

The public review meeting of the proposed extension of the current multi-use path along South Post to be along Conover Rd from the soccer/football/baseball fields to Galston in the Jefferson Park neighborhood was exciting, but not in a good way - frankly, the attitudes expressed (esp the vehemence) was shocking to me.

The contrast between the attitudes of the Jefferson Park residents toward improving biking/walking safety could not have been starker, compared to the meetings re the Cranbury Rd improvements, which many in the Sherbrooke Estates neighborhood (including myself) came out in support of. Both the Cranbury and Conover improvements do not affect the nearby neighborhoods directly (in the sense of engineering changes right in front of your house), but you might have gotten the impression that the Jefferson Park residents felt as if they were under attack.

Have we in WW forgotten the tragedy of Dr. Steven Mayer's death at the hands of a distracted driver in June? He was running along Robbinsville Rd with his dog just a few miles from the proposed Conover Rd improvements - if he had a multi-use path to run on he might be alive and continuing to provide his positive impact to our community today.

At the meeting and on social media sites, lots of tired old myths are being thrown around - here's some myth-busting:

1. More biking and walking brings undesirables into the neighborhood and increases crime - straight out of the 50s - actually more eyes on the street improves neighborhood security, and those mythic undesirables are really your neighbors and very nice people. Should you meet them while biking or walking, please say hello and get to know them better, we'll greatly improve our community as a result.

2. Multi-use paths ruin property values - actually paths improve property values and provide a positive economic impact for the township - they are a public investment that repays the cost of improvements, a desirable community asset that Realtors know makes your home easier to sell. Pls contact your favorite WW realtor to get access to this report (it's password protected): http://www.realtor.org/library/effects-of-trails-and-greenways-on-property-values

3. The bike lanes on Village are good enough - actually, bike lanes on high speed roads only serve current bicyclists, only about 12% of the general population, whereas a multi-use path serves everyone who can walk, run and/or bike - children, average non-cyclist adults, seniors, etc.  See (full disclosure, from the National Association of Realtors, again): http://www.pdx.edu/ibpi/four-types-of-cyclists-a-national-look

4. You should drive your family to a park to ride your bicycles - actually, bicycling is not just for recreation, and we can seriously reduce congestion and pollution and health care costs by taking short trips of 2 miles or less by bike. Along Conover Rd, destinations might be to Mercer Co Park, Mercer Co Community College, the rowing center, Conover Fields, even Mercer Oaks golf course (see pic). There are many ways to carry books and other items on a bike, including via backpack, panniers, messenger bags, trunk boxes and handlebar bags.

Please support the proposed Conover Rd multi-use path by sending your comments to the twp at:
http://westwindsornj.org/conover-road.html

Jerry

[hersh....@gmail.com]

Jerry, how do the residence that live there feel?  Why do you think they are for or against it?

Thank You,

Andrew

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<Boston biking to the golf course.jpg>

[Virginia Manzari]

Andrew, 100% of the residents that attended the meeting the other night are against the bike path.  The mayor (and apparently the WWBPA) doesn't care and is trying to push it through anyway.  

Let me respond to some of Jerry's comments.  

This proposed bike path will run either in the front yards or the back yards of the residents in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. That's 8 feet of asphalt in their yards.  How is that not directly impacting their property?

I am appalled at the use of the death of Dr. Mayer to promote this agenda.  He was near his home when he was hit by the car, apparently driven by a teen who was texting at the time.  It was an awful, awful tragedy that would not have changed one iota if he had been running on a trail somewhere before returning home (and he very well may have been on a trail prior to that.)   Plus, even if the stretch of road he'd been on had had a wider bike lane, he still may have been hit.  Remember when the pedestrian on Clarksville Road was hit by a car?  That person was on the sidewalk.  

As far as paths bringing undesirables into the area, that is certainly NOT a myth.  Just two months ago, my friend's teenage daughter was grabbed from behind while walking her dog along a multi-use trail in Plainsboro, that she also thought was safe.  Luckily, she had her dog with her, and the two of them successfully fought the man off.  The fact that this trail leads to Mercer County Park, and runs through people's yards, is indeed an issue.  If people think that nothing nefarious is happening in a county park, they are being very naive.  Just ask the people who live on South Post Road about the people who urinate on their lawns after concerts at the park!  

Multi-use paths may increase property values for a community IN GENERAL.  But I cannot imagine anything but DECREASED property values for the people who will have it running through their yards!!

According to the township, there has been no research done on the number of people who would even use this trail, or the number of people who currently bike on Village Road.  I suspect, based on studies that have been done in other parts of the township, that the number is quite low.  Why force a bike path on residents who don't want it, when very few people will actually use it?

I know the dream is for people to abandon their cars and ride their bikes everywhere, but realistically that is just not going to happen.   

I continue to be amazed that the WWBPA pushes for things like this Conover path and the Road Diet, when residents of those areas are so vehemently against them.  When at the same time, they make very little noise about getting sidewalks constructed on Cranbury Road.  If ever there was a need for sidewalks - FOR SAFETY  - it is on Cranbury Road.  Those residents cannot get their mail safely, let alone get their children on and off school buses.  And forget about walking to Rite Aid or the train station.  Has everyone forgotten that a biker was hit by a car on Cranbury Road several years ago?   There is not even a shoulder on much of this road, there are steep embankments preventing people from jumping out of the way of oncoming traffic, curves with very little visibility, and speeding drivers.  

I'm just shaking my head.  

Virginia

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[Pete Weale]

Starving for answers in West Windsor

Given the endless discussions and brouhaha in WW Twp during Feb/March 2016 regarding the Canal Pointe Road Diet (see 1 April 16 WWP News), I am starving for answers during the Dog Days of Summer.

The Road Diet consumed all of the Mayor's horses and all of the King's men during the 1st Quarter, 2016. Instead, we now learn the residents received a boatload of empty promises covered by the dust from the soon-to-open Costco.

Given the shadows of September 1st, Labor Day, and Back-to-School challenges looming large, we only have two (2) weeks to complete this project!

Purposely, perhaps, is the mayor's 147% devotion to the Cranbury Road sidewalks which were promised three (3) years ago? As the Director of Public Safety, perhaps his focus has been on the Penns Neck Community building demolition adjacent to the Dinky Bridge; the PBA Corner resurfacing on North Post Road; the defunct Gulf Station on Route 1; or the myriad other unfinished projects around town. 

However, it has been a hot summer and oil prices for asphalt have been low. It is understandable the part-time mayor would be sequestered in air conditioning. Meanwhile, in nearby Lawrence Township, ratable projects have been steaming right along as other townships eat West Windsor's lunch.

Pete Weale

West Windsor

Note: the letters posted by affected residents who attended the Mayor's Conover Road mandate appear on-line.  I don't believe there was adequate space for the comments, sadly, to be published in the current paper being delivered by mail tomorrow.  Surely this matter will be clarified at tonight's, 15 August 2016, WW Twp Council meeting.

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[Jerry Foster]

I appreciate everyone's point of view, and appreciate everyone's tolerance of mine, democracy in action, all good.

Jerry

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 9:40:44 AM UTC-4, Andrew Hersh wrote:

[George Barone]

Homeowners opposed the Canal Pointe road diet which is being forced through against their wishes. Now it looks like our political leaders are ready to push through yet another project against the wishes of the affected          homeowners.  That's democracy at work. Perhaps we are voting for the wrong people  

George C. Barone

 

[Virginia Manzari]

Good points, George.  Luckily last night, three members of council - Linda Geevers, Hemant Marathe, and Peter Mendonez - respected the wishes of the residents, and they voted to NOT request an extension of the grant application for the Conover Road bike path.  Kudos to the three of them!   

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 11:56:48 AM UTC-4, George Barone wrote:

Homeowners opposed the Canal Pointe road diet which is being forced through against their wishes. Now it looks like our political leaders are ready to push through yet another project against the wishes of the affected          homeowners.  That's democracy at work. Perhaps we are voting for the wrong people  

George C. Barone

 

On Aug 16, 2016, at 7:44 AM, Jerry Foster <j3j3...@gmail.com> wrote:

I appreciate everyone's point of view, and appreciate everyone's tolerance of mine, democracy in action, all good.

Jerry

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 9:40:44 AM UTC-4, Andrew Hersh wrote:

Jerry, how do the residence that live there feel?  Why do you think they are for or against it?

Thank You,

Andrew

Sent from my iPhone

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[Sandra Shapiro]

Thank you, Jerry for opening this discussion. I looked at the map and photos for the proposed route. The Township’s preferred route near the housing development skirts the houses and instead uses an already existing path along a sanitary sewer easement. The proposed path would go through fields next to already existing roads, using township right-of-ways, and then the preferred alignment would follow the sewer easement. Not only would this take the bike/pedestrian trail away from the houses, but it might also be a shaded and protected portion for users. The Township is seeking approvals from Mercer County.

I have biked to and used (both on foot and on bike) the Mercer County Park path system many times and have always found many people walking and biking, including children on tricycles or on bicycles with and without training wheels. Additionally, people push babies in carriages and strollers. Adding a safe route into the park for those who live near the park would enable parents to take their children for rides without having to navigate streets lacking sidewalks. I, too, prefer to ride and walk on off-road paths.

Members of the WWBPA continue to advocate for safe routes, as well as safe bicycling and walking practices, including wearing helmets, following traffic rules and guidelines, taking great care at intersections. As the population in the township has grown, the need for safe routes becomes more and more important. This is not the largely farming community it was 40 years ago.

Since its founding, the WWBPA has been an advocate for a sidewalk or safe multi-use path along Cranbury Road. No one has forgotten about this difficult road section. I am sure that the WWBPA will continue to work with residents, the Township and the County to find a workable solution for Cranbury Road.

However, the issue in this thread has been the Conover Road Multi-use path, for which the Township had solicited comments.

Sandy

On Aug 16, 2016, at 7:44 AM, Jerry Foster <j3j3...@gmail.com> wrote:

I appreciate everyone's point of view, and appreciate everyone's tolerance of mine, democracy in action, all good.

Jerry

On Monday, August 15, 2016 at 9:40:44 AM UTC-4, Andrew Hersh wrote:

Jerry, how do the residence that live there feel?  Why do you think they are for or against it?

Thank You,

Andrew

Sent from my iPhone

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[Jerry Foster]

It's easy to get the facts wrong from the picture presented at the public review meeting (attached here) - those heavy red lines through the Jefferson Park neighborhood grab your attention.

If you went to the meeting, however, you would know that *no changes* to the roadway or sidewalks are proposed along Conover east of Galston to Edinburg, and Galston, where the heavy red lines are.

Instead, the dotted lines are where the multi-use path is proposed, running from South Post to Galston - the only Jefferson Park house affected is on the west corner of Galston and Conover, and the sidewalk there would be converted to part of the multi-use path under the proposal.

Jerry
 

[Pete Weale]

Jerry et al:

I have asked the following questions multiple times, including during the 15 Jan 2016 WW Twp Council meeting:

(1).  Why is Conover Road multi-use path a higher priority than...

(2).  Cranbury Road sidewalks which were promised by the mayor three (3) years ago as a mayoral campaign pledge (and discussed going back to at least 1984);  West Windsor is paralyzed in negotiating agreements with SIX (6) property owners over two years?

(3).  Washington Road sidewalk extension from Wallingford to Pierson (a short segment for which the WW DPW could easily do the site work) submitted three (3) years ago?  Pedestrians must walk in the roadway facing 50 mph traffic when there is rain, snow, and darkness.

(4).  Completed network of mishmash sidewalks from Wallace/Cranbury Road to Clarksville Road in the commercial/residential area of Downtown Princeton Junction;  (This would benefit school students and provide better commuter/pedestrian access to the PJ Train Station).

(5).  Canal Point Road Diet construction which generated nuclear-level discussions in February, 2016... (add proposed Princeton Theological Seminary housing traffic plus additional traffic on the parcels adjacent to the new NRG corporate offices).  Have you seen the deplorable conditions of the TREES along Canal Point Blvd?  Should this Diet not have been fast-tracked this Summer 2016?

(6).  Why is the Hsueh Administration just now bidding the 2016 Sidewalk Repair Program when it had ALL SUMMER to complete this?

(7).  Shouldn't all of the above points be resolved in the spring of each year to ensure construction is (mostly) completed by Labor Day?  As you know,  much/most of the Township Engineer projects are farmed out to no-bid professional service contract engineering firms.  So WHAT is the in-house engineering staff doing that permits Conover Road multi-use path to get to the head of the line?

(8).  Why does the mayor invoke his role as Director of Public Safety - yet remain consistently absent from fulfilling his public safety responsibilities?

P.S.:  Please help the mayor find his written correspondence to/from John Nash for use of his name at the pocket park.  I filed an OPRA but the Twp said there is neither a record of phone calls nor written correspondence.

Pete Weale

bric...@aol.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Foster <j3j3...@gmail.com>
To: West Windsor Community Discussion <WWCommunit...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Aug 17, 2016 10:12 am
Subject: Re: Pls Support the Conover Rd Multi-Use Path