To the Editor:
Walk Bike Princeton is a local group of residents working for a healthier, safer, and less car-centric community. We wholeheartedly commend and thank the Princeton Council and the Engineering Department for the steady progress on implementing the Bicycle Mobility Plan and the Sidewalk Master Plan, including the redesign of North Harrison Street between Clearview Avenue and Nassau Street.
This section of Harrison is not just a road for cars. Within a short walk or bike ride are Princeton Middle School, Princeton High School, the Princeton Shopping Center, Grover Park, houses of worship, senior housing, medical offices, and residential neighborhoods. These are exactly the kinds of destinations people should be able to reach safely on foot, by bike, by transit, or with a mobility device.
North Harrison is wide enough to include both vehicle lanes and bicycle lanes. The existing bike lanes between Terhune Road and Clearview Avenue should be extended toward Nassau Street, and they should continue clearly through intersections. Intersections are where people walking and biking face the greatest danger, so bike lanes should not disappear at the very places where riders most need a predictable, designated space.
The redesign should also make crossings safer for pedestrians. We urge the town to include leading pedestrian intervals at signalized intersections, raised crosswalks where feasible, better lighting, wider sidewalks where possible, and other traffic-calming measures. Particular attention should be paid to Valley Road, Terhune Road, Hamilton Avenue, the Walgreens and Shopping Center entrances, and the connections around Grover Park.
A community walk and bike tour of the North Harrison and Princeton Shopping Center area, hosted by Walk Bike Princeton, reinforced the same message: isolated improvements are not enough. People need a connected network of safe sidewalks, continuous bike lanes, calm streets, visible crossings, and well-maintained routes. That includes keeping brush out of bike lanes, trimming hedges for visibility, enforcing sidewalk snow removal, and designing access through the Shopping Center so people can move safely without always needing a car.
These changes, and others Walk Bike Princeton outlined in a letter to the mayor and Council, are practical, affordable, and consistent with Princeton’s adopted goals. They would reduce short car trips, ease congestion, support Princeton’s climate goals, and make it safer for students, families, older residents, workers, and visitors to get around town.
Everyone in Princeton has a right to use North Harrison safely, no matter how they travel. We urge the town to extend the bike lanes, improve the crossings, calm traffic, and make North Harrison a safer and more welcoming corridor for all.