By Anne Levin
While much of Princeton Council’s meeting on August 11 was devoted to passage of a resolution in support of the Immigrant Trust Act, the governing body also took action on additional issues and initiatives.
Council passed an ordinance designating additional intersections in town as “no turn on red,” prompted by the Vision Zero Policy that seeks to eliminate traffic injuries and fatalities. The prohibition of right turns on red signals “will remove the conflict between bicyclists in the bike lanes and motorists attempting to cross over the bike lanes at the Valley Road, Princeton Shopping Center, and Terhune Road intersections with North Harrison Street,” the ordinance reads. It will also help school children safely navigate the North Harrison Street intersections with Hamilton Avenue and Franklin Avenue.
Councilman Leighton Newlin called the ordinance a “game-changer,” adding that recent police reports have noted numerous mishaps. “We have got to slow it down all around town here in Princeton,” he said. “The message is that stopping at intersections right on red is just a furtherance of being more careful of how we move around the town. We’re growing, we’re getting a little bit more dense, and we have to be a little more careful.”
Councilman David Cohen urged people to participate in the recently launched Adopt a Drain Program, in which residents sign up to clear a drain in their neighborhoods, especially after a storm.
“This went live at Community Night Out,” Cohen said. “It’s an important thing you can do both to help the municipality meet its storm sewer permit requirements, but also to preserve the water quality of our surface waters in New Jersey.”
Cohen also commented on an ordinance appropriating $775,000 from the Sewer Trust Fund for various improvements. “This is not another ordinance to spend more money,” he said. “This is actually an ordinance to use our trust fund instead of borrowing money to do the work that’s identified in the ordinance.”
Council approved a resolution authorizing $81,200 in engineering services with Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. for the Grover Avenue culvert replacement project, specifically for the design of the Harry’s Brook Tributary culvert which runs under Grover Avenue. The tributary flows through Grover Park between the Princeton Shopping Center and Grover Avenue.
“The current culvert under Grover Avenue consists of multiple drainage pipes that are inadequate to convey the stream flows expected in future storms,” reads a memorandum from Assistant Municipal Engineer Jim Purcell, in the agenda packet. Improvements in the park that are proposed include elevation of the walkway on boardwalks above the flood elevation, a raised picnic area, rehabilitation of the basketball court, upgrades to the playground, and replacement of the footbridge over the stream.
Cohen said the proposed changes are desperately needed. “It floods repeatedly, and downstream neighbors suffer with flooding of Harry’s Brook. So I’m really happy to see this. We have anticipated it for several years.”
Council voted to adopt the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and the 2025 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, with funds totaling $185,428 going toward Princeton Community Housing (heat pumps at Griggs Farm), vision and dental services, and administration.
“A portion of that money will go again to something that has been very successful, which is for dental and medical services for our most vulnerable population,” said Newlin. “It’s a good grant.”