Princeton Residents Ask Council To Prioritize Rosedale Rd Safety

PRINCETON, NJ — At Monday’s Council meeting, residents raised concern over the Rosedale Road crossing where a pedestrian was killed last month and urged Council to find solutions.

On Aug. 25, 82-year-old Pinghua Xu was struck by a car while attempting to cross Rosedale Road. Xu had activated the pedestrian crossing signal located at the intersection of Rosedale Road and General Johnson Drive at the entrance to Johnson Park School. He was struck by a car in the eastbound lane while crossing.

Read More Here: Princeton Man Hit By Car On Rosedale Road Dies

“We are asking again for a crossing guard or a police presence to build confidence in the safety of the families who want to walk and bike to school, not only to Johnson Park but to the middle school and the high school,” said Lisa Serieyssol, Chair of Princeton’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Serieyssol said that the intersection was “dangerous,” and did not have crossing guards. And although the intersection is the subject of a grant to address safety issues, the improvements will not be in place before 2023 or 2024.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of the safety of that intersection. And I ask you to reevaluate your commitments to place a crossing guard at that intersection,” Serieyssol told Council.

Resident Gina Kolata wrote a letter to the Council supporting efforts to get a crossing guard at the intersection during school hours and/or traffic light.

“The dangerous intersection has been a real issue for years. I started urging that something be done when the Mayor was Liz Lambert,” Kolata said in her letter. “How sad that it took a death to wake people up.”

Tineke Thio, a member of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee urged Council to address the matter at the earliest.

“The tragic death was not an accident. Traffic deaths are never accidents — they are a result of decisions made by the people who are in charge. And I have to say the people who have been in charge have not put the safety of our children and our neighbors at first priority,” Thio said.

“Our lives are worth more than the three seconds that drivers could save by slowing down at that place.”

Acknowledging the urgency of the matter, Mayor Mark Freda informed residents that the Council, engineering department staff, and police have been in contact with the county since Rosedale Road is a county road and various temporary measures are being investigated.

“We just need to make sure we're engaging the county on looking at an overall set of plans that we can do to address this,” Freda said. "I don't want people to think that we're not doing anything. Sorry that we're not moving as fast as everyone would wish. But we are trying to react.”

Township Engineer Deanna Stockton said the Township has a Federal Safe Routes to School Grant for improving the walking and biking infrastructure on Rosedale Road. The engineering department along with the County and State Department of Transportation has been reviewing the results of a traffic study.

Stockton said different factors come into play when looking at warrants for a traffic signal. And currently, it cannot be definitive said whether the intersection could get a traffic light or not.

“As soon as we get the sidewalks repaired at the bridge that were damaged during Tropical Storm Ida, the county will be coming in and repaving the intersection. And as part of that work, they're going to do some traffic calming by narrowing the lanes through pavement striping,” Stockton said.

The township will also be upgrading the turn Island at that location. “Those are all interim steps that will be in place until we can finalize the design and construct improvements probably in about 2023.”

Councilman David Cohen said the Township was also looking at solutions in the event the traffic warrant is not approved.

“It's a nightmare without a traffic signal there. So, I think there are a lot of good reasons to do it. And I think that we want to keep the pressure on in any way that we can. Whether or not the warrants say that we automatically qualify for a traffic signal, there are ways to get one anyway,” Cohen said.

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