John Boyle
Fri, 17 Dec 2004 22:48:54 -0800
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All you have to do is look at a map of bike lanes in our region
and you can see the power of bicycle advisory committees. Doylestown, Newark
DE, West Windsor, Princeton, Voorhees, Evesham and
Medford all have a respectable combination of bike lanes, shared use paths and traffic
calming. Look for Haddonfield and Upper Merion to lead the way in Camden and
Montgomery Counties respectively. John http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13575676&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425695&rfi=6 Bike Lanes on Southfield Road will nearly complete network
plan. WEST
WINDSOR — The township has received a $100,000 grant from the state
Department of Transportation for the development of bicycle lanes along both
sides of Southfield Road, which will nearly complete a series of bicycle lanes
stretching from the Plainsboro border in the northeast to the county park in
the southwest area of the township. The
township will also contribute $76,900 toward the project, which will come from
its 2005 capital improvement budget, according to Mayor Shing-Fu
Hsueh. "For
us, it was a key element in the bike lane network," said Ken Carlson,
co-chair of the township Bicycle-Pedestrian Task Force. The only
missing piece to link one end of the township to the other is the construction
of bicycle lanes along Edinburg Road. Those lanes
would connect the final piece of the series of bicycle lanes to Mercer County
Park in the southwestern portion of the township.
"Right now, the only way for someone to enjoy the bike paths in
Mercer County Park is to drive to the park with their bikes in their car,"
said Mr. Carlson. The
Southfield Road bicycle lanes will also connect in the north with the Nostrand Road bicycle lanes just over the border in
Plainsboro. Southfield Road turns into Nostrand Road
in Plainsboro. Plainsboro
also recently received a $275,000 grant for the reconstruction of Cranbury Neck
Road, which will include bicycle lanes at least on one side of the street, and
has a grant application pending for parts of an 8-foot-wide asphalt pedestrian
pathway on Grovers Mill Road. The
planned bicycle paths are expected to eventually connect up to the cluster of
schools — West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Millstone River
School and Community Elementary — on Grovers
Mill Road in Plainsboro. But the
bicycle lanes on the road were considered particularly important not only
because the will eventually be used as a connection to Mercer County Park and
Plainsboro, but because on this single stretch, bicyclists can ride to shopping
at the Southfield Road Shopping Complex — commonly known as the
McCaffrey's shopping center — Grover Middle School and Village School,
the Zaitz Park, the Schenck
House and several residential neighborhoods.
Construction on the project will probably begin in the spring, soon after
the Township Council approves the 2005 budget, Mayor Hsueh
said. Once improvements are under way, it may take about three months to
complete the project, depending on weather conditions, he said. In many
places along Southfield Road, the roadway is already wide enough for the
bicycle lanes, Mr. Carlson said. The DOT
doled out these particular grants to approximately one-third of the municipal
applicants, Mr. Carlson said. The
township also has a "Safe Roads to School" grant application pending
for two missing sidewalk links on Clarksville Road near Landing Lane and on Old
Village Road near Edinburg Road, Mr. Carlson said. ©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business -
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