At this month’s meeting, Pennington Borough council unanimously passed a resolution objecting to the the installation of a full traffic signal as a replacement to the current flasher-signal at Engleside Avenue on Route 31, which is in direct opposition to the resolution passed in July by Hopewell Township requesting that the flasher be transformed into a full traffic signal.
As indicated in their plans presented at the information session in July, New Jersey Department of Transportation (“NJDOT”) intends to install “metering signals” which are full red/yellow/green traffic lights north and south of the Pennington Circle on Route 31 in Hopewell Township. For complete details of overall project scope, see Pennington Circle Construction to Start Soon, Improvement Details.
At the urging of local residents, Hopewell Township passed a resolution, at its July 27, 2015 meeting, requesting that NJDOT replace the existing flasher type signal at the intersection of Ingleside Avenue and Route 31 with a full traffic signal, eliminate the proposed metering signal to be located south of the Pennington Circle, and eliminate the proposed metering signal to be located north of the circle.
One resident at the July Township meeting shared, “I want to thank everyone for taking the time to listen to our concerns as residents and I am very pleased with the resolution before you now and hope that you will speak with DOT and follow these recommendations because it would be to the betterment of the Township.” Another said that she would very much support the full signal light current flashing light because, in her view, that intersection very dangerous.
However, Pennington Borough objects to the installation of the traffic light for a variety of reasons including that there is “no data suggesting that the current signal at Ingleside Avenue and Route 31 is ineffective.”
The resolution indicates that Mercer County recently identified that intersection as being a potential location for a “pedestrian hybrid beacon and crosswalk” rather than a full traffic signal as part of the Mercer County Route 546 bikeway planning.
Further, the resolution states, “A full-signal intersection will encourage drivers to use Ingleside Avenue as a detour bypass from and to Route 31 and to access Burd Street as a ‘cut-through’ to avoid volume on Route 31” with both Ingleside and Burd within the Borough limits. Pennington’s concern is that the “increased traffic volume will pose a danger to children, pedestrians and bicycle riders,” according to the language in the resolution.
