Proposed by: Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Millstone Bypass Alert, STOP,

There is an unacceptable level of auto dependence in eastern Mercer and southwestern Middlesex Counties. This unacceptable level of auto-dependence has led to an impairment of mobility across modes and quality of life, including:

1. auto and truck trip growth leading to congestion beyond that which is perceived to be unacceptable now, and is clearly unacceptable as projected (30% increase in vehicle throughput with no corresponding increase in auto-mobility (same level of service – D) for the future on Route 1;
2. auto queues at intersections crossing Route 1 east and west at peak hours that exceed ________ now and are projected to last _______;
3. residential neighborhoods in Penns Neck and Berrien City in West Windsor Township and Harrison Street in Princeton Borough becoming traffic conduits for regional and local trips, making the living situation along those arterials noisy and impaired;
4. lack of safe routes for children to walk and bicycle to neighborhood schools;
5. lack of safe bicycle lanes and paths to accommodate intra- and inter-municipal trips of all kinds under five miles;
6. lack of appropriate bus routes to serve major origins and destinations, both work trips and non-work trips and too little use of and information about existing bus routes;
7. growth in single-occupant vehicle commuter work trips due to job growth without corresponding measures to reduce demand to appropriate levels, such as through parking management and employee transit incentives offered on the part of public and private sector employers;
8. except for the limited Dinky route, few reliable, convenient feeder jitney or other transit service to the Princeton Junction station to feed trips to and from the region on the Northeast Railroad Corridor;
9. use of Route 1 and Route 130 by heavy, wide trucks for long-haul (through not interstate) trips that could utilize the NJ Turnpike for at least part of the trip in the region, and lack of incentives for truckers to do that;
10. Possible widening of CR571 which could further impair pedestrian crossings and possible widening of Cranbury Road, and connection with Hightstown Bypass;
11. retention of structurally deficient Alexander Road bridge due to lack of consensus about encouraging the use of that route into Princeton.

Much of the increase in traffic can be attributed to conversion of open land to auto-dependent residential and commercial uses throughout the central New Jersey region. Unless these land development patterns change and aggressive measures are undertaken to reduce auto dependence, and thus traffic congestion is expected to worsen over the next two decades.

To improve auto-mobility, and without any proposed changes in land development patterns or intensity, DOT widened Route 1 north of South Brunswick and south of the Washington Road intersection of Route 1 in West Windsor Township, and eliminated some traffic lights by constructing grade-separated overpasses. These actions were revealed in the Environmental Assessment to have increased vehicle throughput but not reduced traffic congestion, as levels of service for those roadway segments still remain very poor.

The Penns Neck area has:

• Three closely-placed traffic signals on Route 1 at Washington Road, Fisher Place and Harrison Street that provide east-west access across Route 1 and onto Route 1;
• Route 1 has uneven number of travel lanes, with three travel lanes in each direction with no shoulders at Washington Road, two lanes in each direction in South Brunswick, and four lanes in each direction south of Washington Road for a short distance.

DOT proposed removing the three traffic lights, which it viewed as constraining vehicle throughput on Route 1, building the Millstone Bypass over Route 1 to provide a substitute east-west access, replacing it with fewer lanes than local east-west crossings currently carry, however, and widening Route 1 with additional lane capacity – a proposal which has been rejected for many reasons in favor of this community-based planning initiative.

Further study and documentation is needed to determine if:

• There are dangerous delays in getting volunteer emergency response personnel who must travel through the area to the fire station and those trying to access Princeton Medical Center located west of Route 1 in Princeton Borough;
• There are a disproportionate number of severe traffic accidents on Route 1 between X and Y and local roads crossing Route 1 in this area.

The area contains many unique and valuable natural, historic and cultural resources, impacts to which will be avoided, including:

• The Millstone River and its watershed;
• The Little Bear Brook;
• The Elm Allee extending from Route 1 to the D&R Canal along Washington Road;
• The D&R Canal, as a recreational and a drinking water resource;
• The D&R Canal State Park;
• First Baptist Church of Princeton;
• Cemetery at First Baptist Church and off Washington Road in Princeton fields;
• Natural areas, forests and wetlands in West Windsor located in the vicinity of the Sarnoff property, RR tracks and bordering the Millstone River and Little Bear Brook, as noted in the West Windsor Master Plan and former Natural Resources Inventory;
• Pre-historic sites on Sarnoff property in the ROW of the preferred alternative for the Millstone Bypass;
• Aqueduct Mills historic district;
• Logan Farm House
• Historic-eligible ATT switching station.

Any solution(s) designed to address the aforementioned problems will need to respect the integrity of these resources and the character of neighborhoods in the area, while providing for growth in trips by either maintaining current levels of service improving levels of service by reducing current trip demand, and providing for growth in trips through increased demand for bicycle, walking, bus and rail transit.

Further areas of investigation need to include:

• Connected and similar actions, including the proposed Route 92 and the possible widening of CR571;
• Direct, indirect and cumulative impacts and effects on human health and the natural environment.
• The appropriate horizons of the study’s outcome (10 years and 20 years);
• Conflict with local land use plans;
• An appropriate range of build-out scenarios;
• Origins & destinations (not screen lines) of auto and non-auto trips now and in the future;
• Consideration of a wider range of demand management measures then was studied in the Congestion Management System study, including parking management and pricing;
• The determination of an acceptable or near-acceptable level of service for all modes;
• Land development pattern type and intensity changes that will reduce auto trip demand somewhat, and significantly, over the 10 and 20 year timeframes;
• Environmental, social and racial justice, especially regarding access to jobs;

The ultimate range of solutions to be considered, which will consist of an appropriate mix of all reasonable (not necessarily preferable to the sponsoring agency) strategies, will be designed to achieve that desired or near-desired level of service for all modes in the most cost-effective way with the least harm to the environment and historic and cultural resources.