Advanced trail and pedestrian crossing signs were selected as the traffic calming measure for the planned construction of the Mount Rose Distillery trail segment of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail (LHT).
Hopewell Township’s planned Mount Rose Distillery trail segment goes through the D&R Greenway’s Hillman Property, according to the LHT map. It is bounded by Moores Mill Mount Rose Road and Pennington-Rocky Hill Road.
The north end of the trail near Bailey Court connects to the existing LHT.
Connecting from the north end, the trail will travel through two properties and then the southern part of the trail ends at what will be striped crossings at the intersection of Moores Mill Mount Rose Road and Weldon Way.
There is going to be a conventional intersection design for the crossings after the trail ends.
The intersection design will be marked with striped high visibility crosswalks that stripe in a latter form crossing Moores Mill Mount Rose Road and then again crossing Weldon Way.
There also will be landing ramps at the corner of the intersections for American with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes.
The Hopewell Township committee moved forward with the traffic calming measures after resident input and consensus.
“We look to the residents that live directly in the area for the general input, we generally go with the consensus of those residents and provide that to the Township Committee,” said Mark Kataryniak, consultant for Ferriero Engineering, the firm hired for the project.
“The preferred option was enhanced signing at the crosswalks.”
The Township Committee brought up the possibility of flashing light indicators at the crosswalk intersection. Kataryniak agreed that it was possible.
“I would only recommend them at the crosswalk of Moores Mill Mount Road. They can be put on either side and be push button activated,” he added, recommending that they be solar powered.
Kataryniak suggested the solar standalone flashing light installations be put in the project as a separate line item, so the township can get separate pricing for it and competitive pricing through the bid process.
With the Township Committee giving the go ahead on the recommendations for the proposed project in late November, bid documents will be prepared for the trail project and go out to bid some time this winter.
“…[We’ll] make an award in early spring, so that the tree clearing and planting could take place,” Kataryniak said. “Construction early summer.”
This 10-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle trail segment has been worked on since 2018 and is 2,040 feet with a footbridge at Honey Branch Tributary Crossing.
The other traffic calming options that had been presented to residents and the Township Committee were a speed hump plan, where in addition to the conventional intersection there would be one striped gradual speed hump on each approach along Moores Mill Mount Rose Road to slow down traffic as they come close to the intersection.
A third option in lieu of speed humps was that the striped crossing across Moores Mill Mount Road would be converted into a raised crosswalk.
In this option the pavement would be elevated and raised at the top, the hump is widened, and the crosswalk is flattened out. Making pedestrians more visible and serve to slow traffic.
A fourth option presented for traffic calming had been rumble strips, which would have been deployed using thermal plastic pavement striping that is placed perpendicular to the roadway in layers creating a rumble.
The township is able to construct the project with grant funds received from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), which awarded the township $363,200 for the construction of the trail.
The grant with offset the design and construction costs for the township.
Mount Rose Distillery trail segment of the LHT is one of two remaining segments within Hopewell Township not yet constructed.
The LHT 22-mile loop that is a biking and walking trail is about 89% complete and been in the works for 20 years.
