University and local officials accept proposal to realign University Place

A proposal to change the route of University Place near the Dinky station was accepted last night in an agreement between the University and Princeton Borough and Township.

The plan does not yet include details for any actual construction, however. Instead, it merely ensures that the three groups will look into a possible rerouting.

Pam Hersh, the University's director of community and state affairs, said in an e-mail that the concept of rerouting "originated in conversations between the University and the Borough in connection with the increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the University Place area."

This rerouting would make way for the proposed McCarter Theater expansion, increased Dinky station use and the University's long range plan to improve the area.

University administration has agreed to finance the introductory studies which will look into whether or not to straighten the sharp curve near McCarter Theater.

According to Princeton Borough Administrator Bob Bruschi, creating a road that closely follows the Dinky tracks and intersects Alexander Road south of Forbes College is, in fact, a viable prospect.

"No money is now involved. We all endorse the concept, want to participate and to be a player in the planning," Bruschi said. "Later, we will discuss other issues, like cost sharing."

Bruschi provided three primary reasons for the proposed rerouting of University Place. The involved organizations hope a change would improve traffic circulation as well as increased safety for motorists. A desire on the part of all groups to make the area more friendly for pedestrians was also cited.

Particularly problematic for pedestrians is the width of University Place between the train station and McCarter, Bruschi said.

"Everyone acknowledged the difficulty of crossing University Place, as well as pulling in and out of parking spaces," Hersh said.

Additionally, Bruschi said traffic flow through the area has been hindered by the tight turning space at the street's intersection with Alexander Road near Wawa.

Both Hersh and Bruschi were quick to point out, though, that the current road layout possibilities are far from being decided, and that plans are not near the stage that would allow for an overall cost assessment of the project or predictions of construction time lengths.

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"Right now, all we have is lines on a map, and even those lines are conceptual," Bruschi said. "There have been absolutely no real engineering, architectural or traffic studies, that would say that [the currently discussed path] is the best spot for it."