Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the January 23, 2002 edition of U.S.
1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Between the Lines
Compared to all the true misfortune that resulted from
the September 11 attacks, the suspension of games and ultimate
postponement
of the National Football League season by one week was a genuinely
trivial consequence.
Yet we are now forced to mention the NFL because that chain of events
triggered the first glaring error in our annual U.S. 1 wall calendar.
Those of you who have the calendar at the office should note that
the Super Bowl this year will not be on the last Sunday in January,
but rather the first one in February.
We have only ourselves to blame for that error. But other scheduling
changes and cancellations are bound to arise throughout the year —
changes that not even the event organizers could have foreseen last
November when they transmitted their plans to U.S. 1. So we remind
you now as we do in the calendar — consult this newspaper for
more current information and call first or check an organization’s
website before venturing forth to any event.
To the Editor:
Route 1/Nassau Park: A Simple Solution?
Now that the Meadow Road at MarketFair traffic signal
on Route 1 is history, why does the DOT refuse to change the traffic
signal at Nassau Park Boulevard to a solid green signal during morning
(7-9 a.m.) and afternoon (4-7 p.m.) rush hours?
Californians driving into San Francisco can handle rush hour over
the Golden Gate Bridge by changing the number of lanes in and out.
To date, we have been unable to get DOT to consider a similar concept
to permit traffic to flow more smoothly.
conjunction
with the traffic signals themselves, please change the signals to
a solid green during the particular rush hour times.
During the transition after the posted hours, simply change to
flashing
yellow for 15 seconds, then 15 seconds of SOLID yellow, to transition
back into a controlled solid RED. Most commuters can handle the
complexity
or simplicity of this.
with lights remaining solid RED with appropriate signage that will
prevent anyone from entering the intersection from the shopping center
during those time periods.
The alternatives presented to motorists are to use of the existing
Quakerbridge Road/Provinceline Road overpass.
construct a flyover at Nassau Park expense to permit traffic to go
over Route 1.
However, if Nassau Park and its tenants don’t buy into the idea,
remove
the traffic lights at Nassau Park Boulevard, as promised long ago.
The handful of cars crossing Route 1 during rush hour hold hostage
the entire mass of commuters to southern NJ and PA hostage.
roadway redesign will handle this traffic traveling at 60 mph and
squeezing into one lane (Route 1 South to I-95/295 North).
Trying to exit or enter Route 1 in Lawrence from the NY Deli to Joe’s
Crab Shack deserves special dispensation to survivors.
and Plainsboro and other communities a higher priority than limiting
access in Lawrence where, for example, gasoline fuel tankers and
trucks
pull out of the Amoco Station behind a hidden overpass?
drive Route 1 daily during rush hour or they would surely put their
collective genius, DOT engineers, and contract consultants into
solving
this solvable challenge. What would it take to get DOT to implement
this?
Pete Weale
144 Fisher Place, West Windsor
we asked the DOT for answers:
"We have timed signals to provide as much green time as possible
at Nassau Park. When no cars are lined up waiting to get across Route
1, the light stays green. There is no automatic red cycle.
An automated sensor system lets the light know when a car pulls up
at Nassau Park Boulevard, and detects how many cars join it. The light
then turns red for Route 1 traffic just long enough to allow that
number of cars through.
"It can’t be green all the time," Dourgarian says. "We
still have to let the side street traffic in." He added, however,
that the light will be taken out in about a year. Northbound traffic
will have to exit at Quakerbridge Road to reach Nassau Park, or they
will have to get off at Meadow Road, and then circle back.
As for Weale’s concern about getting traffic off Route 1 South and
onto I-95/195, Dourgarian admits there is congestion at the point
where the roads converge, but says there is no plan to add another
lane or come up with another fix.
Another problem Weale raises is the suicide leap it takes to enter
or leave businesses along Route 1 South. From the New York Deli down
to Joe’s Crab Shack, customers have to have nerves of steel —
and bumpers to match — to peel off the roadway, and then to jet
back in.
"Yes, it’s true," Dourgarian admits, "its hard to get
in." He points out, however, that businesses like the Red Lobster
have been perched on the edge of the highway for 10 or 15 years,
implying
that when they built, they knew their customers would have to be
fearless
folks with excellent reflexes. There isn’t much the DOT can do about
the situation now, he says, except to advise that "motorists have
to use care and caution."
In a piece of excellent news for motorists, Dourgarian says the last
piece of the Meadow Road bypass, the connection to Route 1 South,
will open in mid-February.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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