Call for Action, Awareness at Intersection of Rollingmead, Snowden, and Hamilton
To the Editor:
Driving over the years has gotten more and more dangerous. Car crashes continue to be the leading cause of death in the U.S. Getting a call that a loved one has gotten into an accident can be a traumatic experience. I experienced this twice (in March 2023 and April 2024) when my mom called to inform me that my dad got into an accident and the car he was driving got totaled. Luckily there were no fatal injuries, but the thought that something worse could have happened still lingers. Recently another crash at the same intersection was brought to my attention — hence the call to action to create awareness among the community and to find a solution to avoid further crashes.
Both the crashes, coincidentally, happened at the four-way intersection of Rollingmead, Snowden Lane, and Hamilton Avenue. This intersection only has two-way stop signs and has blind spots. Contributing factors also include overgrown shrubs, and no indicators stating that the incoming traffic does not stop. In both instances the car coming from Hamilton Avenue did not fully stop and resulted in a multi-vehicle crash including my dad’s car and, in both instances, he was not at fault. This intersection has been noted by residents as the most dangerous intersection in town. Princeton has many pedestrians and cyclists going through the various intersections, and we need to make them safer before we have more accidents.
That’s why something needs to be done at the intersection of Rollingmead, Snowden Lane, and Hamilton Avenue. Either a four-way stop sign can be installed, or rumble strips can be added in front of the two stop signs on Rollingmead and Hamilton to slow traffic, like at the intersection of Jefferson Road and Terhune Road. Blinking lights to the stop signs can also be added to make the signs more visible and increase awareness. Most importantly the trees and shrubs needed to be pruned regularly so that the signs are not blocked, and the road is more visible.
Let’s act before we lose lives! Two cars (there may be more that I am not aware of) totaled at the same intersection in just over one year could be an indication of something worse to come, and let’s try to avoid it.