Hamilton Ave. Bike Lane Proposal--Salient Points and Potential Solutions

Even in the 21st century, when there is so much to recommend using bikes to get around in a town like Princeton, it's still a makeshift, improvised affair. Bicyclists are frequently caught between a line of parked cars on the right, the door of any one of which could open at any moment, and impatient automobiles trying to pass on the left. The most sustainable form of transportation is still considered fringe, tolerated but not fully welcomed.

That's why the proposal to make bike lanes along Hamilton Ave. between Snowden Lane and Harrison Street is significant. It seeks to create a space, no matter how localized, specifically designated for bicyclists.

It's common in Princeton for any proposed change to draw opposition. That public input can either lead to a better final result, or it can create long delays for worthy projects.

The big point of contention with the bike lanes is that neighbors would no longer be able to park on the south side of Hamilton Ave. I live on Harrison St. just up from Hamilton, so know the territory, having all too thoroughly dog-walked the area. I've also driven up and down that stretch of Hamilton Ave. enough to witness how its ample width promotes speeding. The police department uses that stretch as a speedtrap, teaching memorable lessons while feeding the town's coffers.

Since no parking is allowed along North Harrison Street, except for deliveries, I can attest that no on-street parking creates some inconvenience, but we are fortunate to have a driveway that's wide enough in places to allow a car to park without blocking others in the driveway. For parties, guests park on side streets. It's been gratifying to see a growing number of pedestrians and bicyclists along Harrison Street, even though it means an extra level of alertness as we back out onto the street.

First, a few salient points about the Hamilton Avenue situation:

• Because that part of Hamilton Ave. is wide, cars tend to speed. 
• Because so few cars park there, on-street parking does little to calm traffic. How many cars park there on average? The town has done some recon over time, according to Mayor Lempert. The average is two. I've seen nothing during my trips down the street to contradict that assertion.
• If bike lanes help calm traffic, the lack of a bike lane on the south side will perpetuate the tendency of drivers to speed.
• All houses have driveways. 
• However, the lack of on-street parking may mean more car shuffling if the family has more than one car, and will require guests who can't fit in the driveway to park on nearby side streets. 
• It appears that the road width will remain the same. I had heard that the road might be widened, requiring removal of shade trees. This link shows five options, only two of which would widen the street beyond its current 30 feet. It's illuminating, though, to see that the actual right of way is 60 feet wide, meaning that the first fifteen feet of people's front yards is not fully under their control. Right of way widths vary significantly from street to street in Princeton.
• Two of the four side streets, Stanley Ave. and Leavitt Lane, lack sidewalks, requiring that pedestrians walk out into the street to get around parked cars. Again, the minimal use of Hamilton Ave. for on-street parking means that installing bike lanes would seldom displace more than a couple cars to side streets.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

• To calm traffic, the car lanes need to be narrowed, and bike lanes seem the best means of doing this. A bike lane on the north side of the street, where parking is currently not allowed, seems an obvious means of narrowing the lanes. A bike lane on the south side as well would do more to constrict the lanes and calm traffic than the parked cars currently do. 
• One way of reducing inconvenience for residents who would lose on-street parking would be to allow widening of a portion of each driveway to accommodate two cars side by side. 
• Since bike lanes appear to require nothing more than a coat of paint, the minimal investment could make it easier to try out bikelanes now, then review the decision at a later date. 
• Since the street is currently minimally used for parking, a novel compromise would be to demarcate the bike lane along the south side with a dotted line, meaning that residents are discouraged from parking there, but may if they have no other option. Sharrow symbols could be located in the dotted lines. This would provide some flexibility for residents while also having a calming effect on traffic by narrowing the car lanes. Some precedent for this approach may be found at this link. It's somewhere inbetween a solid lined bike lane and a sharrows.

A link to other proposed bike-friendly street modifications in Princeton is here.

The Princeton Joint Bike and Pedestrian Committee answers some common questions about the proposed bikelanes here.

A discussion at the Jan. 12 Town Council meeting can be watched on TV30 video starting around the 1 hour 23.5 minute mark. The URL is http://vimeo.com/116685252#t=1h23m25s. Things start with a presentation by Assistant Municipal Engineer Deanna Stockton, followed by comments from the general public, and finally the dialog/vote by council. Later comes a separate presentation by Deanna Stockton about engineering improvements proposed for Prospect Ave between Harrison and Riverside. http://vimeo.com/116685252#t=2h39m45s

(Thanks to Steve Kruse for some of these links)

A Trenton Times article on the neighborhood meeting this past Wednesday, Feb. 18, can be found at this link. It's mostly a series of opinions, informed or not.

Actual ordinance being considered is at this link. It doesn't mention that the north side of the street is already a no parking zone.