Members of the community are invited to help craft the municipality's Bicycle Master Plan, a blueprint for improving the town's network of connecting bike trails and destinations.
Princeton residents have a valuable opportunity this week to forge their own paths. Literally.
Members of the community are invited to help craft the municipality's Bicycle Master Plan, a blueprint for improving the town's network of connecting bike trails and destinations.
The first of three meetings will take place Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the township's Community Room. It's the public's opportunity to weigh in on ways to make Princeton welcoming and more accessible to those who chose to navigate on two wheels.
In 2013, the League of American Bicyclists named Princeton a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community, one of 31 so designated nationwide.
The award program highlights communities' commitment to improving conditions for biking through investing in promotion, education, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.
MORE: Princeton receives funds to create bicycle Master Plan
The certification acknowledged the progress Princeton had made to that point, including installing "sharrows," or road markings, designed to mark roadways shared by bicyclists and motorists, and to help cyclists identify the best and safest places to ride.
The Bicycle Master Plan now in the works is designed to build on those strengths, as well as to identify infrastructure improvements needed to create a regional network, both within the town and linking to adjacent communities.
A grant from the state Department of Transportation is funding the study leading up to the final plan, which is expected by next June.
Bikes are a common sight on the township's streets, with many residents opting for that mode of transportation to get to work, school, church and shopping destinations.
"As we make more improvements in bike accommodations and safety, even more people will choose to leave their cars at home," Mayor Liz Lempert predicted after the 2013 honor.
Although they often share the same road space, motorists and cyclists don't have to be natural enemies, especially if the needs of both are respected. That's why residents' input is so vital to the process.
Study organizers have wisely provided several avenues for that to happen during this information-gathering stage, including snail mail to the Engineering Department at 400 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ, 08540; and e-mail at engineering@princeton.gov.
An online map will allow you to draw routes, upload photographs, clue the planners into problem areas and provide a wish list for destinations.
And of course, there are public meetings such as the one on Thursday.
An ideal master plan reflects a diversity of opinions from a wide range of stakeholders. We urge you to become part of the solution, rather than griping later about what might have been.