Princeton Chamber Street To Be One-Way For Graduate Hotel Construction

PRINCETON, NJ — During the construction of Graduate Hotel, Chamber Street traffic will not be two-way. After a lengthy presentation and discussion Monday, Council agreed to the developer's request to make Chamber Street one-way during construction. Although “not pleased” with this development, council members said they were "resigned” to the decision.

In March, developers told council that after an on-site examination they determined the road was not broad enough for two-way traffic. They explained that after putting up construction scaffolding and other barriers, the travel lane would not be enough for two-way traffic.

Council asked municipal staff to meet the Graduate Hotel construction team to review details in hopes of reaching a favorable solution. Read More: Graduate Hotel Wants Princeton's Chamber Street To Be One-Way

But after the meeting, municipal staff agreed with the hotel’s construction team — one-way traffic was imperative to the safety of the public.

“Even on a minor urban street, when you have a temporary closure of a two-way roadway, it requires a 10-foot minimal travel width for each lane, which equals 20 feet. And as you can see, we have 18 feet at the most — that’s provided everything goes smooth and stays in place 24/7,” Sgt. Tom Murray of the Princeton Police Department said.

“For the safety aspect alone and in order for us to have a buffer zone, this was the only option available.”

A portion of Chamber Street, closest to Nassau, will be one-way northbound. Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros wondered why traffic couldn’t be directed southbound.

Municipal engineer Jim Purcell said staff analyzed all outcomes and were in agreement that from a safety standpoint, northbound traffic is better than southbound.

Southbound traffic would cause traffic jams in a one-lane configuration that could tie up fire engines and ambulances, Purcell said.

Having traffic move southbound would also be difficult due to other logistical issues. The NJDOT would need to be consulted, due to the left turn lane from Nassau onto Chamber Street going north. To close that would require state action, Purcell said.

“The municipality’s traffic engineer has determined that this is the best way to get people into the special business district. If traffic was southbound with Witherspoon under construction, people getting into town and leaving town will have difficulties,” Purcell said.

With construction taking place five days a week, Pirone Lambros asked if Chamber Street could have two-way traffic during the weekend. But the construction team said removing the barriers on Friday and putting them back on Monday would result in a loss of time.

Council members were not pleased, as the municipality’s business community had been assured of two-way traffic.

Councilwoman Eve Niedergang said she was “deeply distressed” and there was some “trust loss” as the developers couldn’t live up to their initial assurances of keeping Chamber Street traffic two-way.

“Going forward, if there’s bad news that we don’t want to hear, that should get to us ASAP,” Niedergang said. She also asked if the developers could open Chamber Street to two-way traffic early in December 2023, to help the local business community.

The developer's attorney, Christopher DeGrazia, said that although Chamber Street will have one-way traffic, the “good news” was the project is now expected to be completed in 20 months instead of the initial 24-month period.

Mayor Mark Freda said that the next steps would be for staff to ensure the plan is put in place swiftly.

You can watch the meeting here:

Thank you for reading. Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

Get breaking news alerts on your phone with our app. Download here. Sign up to get Patch emails so you don't miss out on local and statewide news