To the Editor:

There’s a lot been said and written about the proposal to extend permit parking into additional residential areas of our town. While the community concerns regarding inefficient use of existing parking, rights of residents, fees and taxation, and other points all have a place in the discussion and need to be addressed, what has been missing from some of the discussions has been the safety of our children who transverse these areas on their way to school, sometimes as unaccompanied minors.

This proposal includes areas that overlap the existing school zone (pre-K – 12) and the YWCA Burke Early Childhood Center in our community. Many of these roads are busy during commuting times and need free parking to contribute to safe passage of both motor vehicles and children in these areas. This proposal doesn’t uncover existing spaces, it is simply reconfiguring these areas to allow additional traffic where it already makes sense to prohibit parking and, as a consequence, limit traffic flow for better access to our local public schools and community centers.

As our town grows, we must not lose sight of protecting our in-town residential streets where our children play and go to school. Simply drawing a half-mile radius to address commercial needs is in this case reckless and potentially dangerous. I appeal to all our community members and the Parking Permit Task Force to reconsider these plans. Keep Princeton beautiful and safe.

Ashley Pereira
Jefferson Road