The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) recently unveiled its plan for the Pedestrian Safety Improvement project along the Route 129 corridor in Trenton.
The project aims to reduce red-light-running crashes and includes short-term improvements and long-term solutions to upgrade safety for pedestrians and cyclists at three signalized intersections.
Short-term improvements include a Red Clearance Extension system that detects the speed of a vehicle approaching an intersection using smart, predictive technology and automatically adjusts traffic signal changes; installing upgraded, advanced warning signs over the roadway to replace ground-mounted signs; revising the traffic signal timing at each intersection to provide pedestrians more time to cross; and adding signal backplates to increase visibility.
The intersections are at Lalor Street, Cass Street, and Hamilton Avenue. A project to make more extensive safety enhancements to these intersections is currently in the early stages of design.
“These improvements are long overdue. One life taken is too many. Over the past decade, fatalities have increased along Route 129,” Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D- Hunterdon County) said. “These road infrastructure improvements will save lives. Whether you walk, bike, or drive, the goal is to reach your family, friends, and destination safely. It’s my mission to improve the quality of life in our communities through public policy by focusing on and investing in people.”