NJDOT won’t yet commit to more crosswalk safety improvements in Princeton

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The state Department of Transportation offered “condolences” to the family of a woman killed in the crosswalk of Washington Road and Nassau Street by a concrete truck Oct. 10, but the agency stopped short of saying it would install equipment the town wants to make the area safer.
The death of Leslie Goodrich Rubin, 62, prompted the Princeton Council to request, again, that the DOT install “all-pedestrian scramble signals” at that intersection of Nassau and Washington/Vandeventer Avenue and at two others on Nassau Street. The technology would hold up all traffic to let pedestrians cross safely. Past requests have been turned down, the town has said.
“It is always tragic when a pedestrian is struck and killed, and the department offers its condolences to the family,” DOT spokesman Dan Triana said in a recent interview. “NJDOT takes the issue of pedestrian safety very seriously and has been working with the mayor and Princeton officials to improve the intersection of Nassau Street and Washington Avenue for many years.”
He touched on steps the state had made to that Nassau Street and Washington Road/Vandeventer Avenue intersection last year, including installing “pedestrian countdown signal heads and corresponding signage.”
“In making improvements at this location, NJDOT has a responsibility for providing safe pedestrian accommodations while not increasing traffic congestion and gridlock on a critical roadway through town,” he said. “NJDOT looks forward to continuing to work with the mayor and local officials on this important issue.”
For her part, Mayor Liz Lempert called it “imperative” for the town to continue working with the state so the municipality has “infrastructure that supports safety.”
“We have a walkable downtown,” she said. “We have hundreds, if not thousands, of pedestrians crossing the streets every day.”