To the Editor:

The Princeton Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) is grateful to the Mayor and Council and all who attended the October 21 Special Council Meeting on Transportation to show their support for traffic calming as well as safe biking and walking infrastructure in our town.

We are pleased that support comes from a wide cross section of the public and represents different age groups, most neighborhoods of our town, and diverse modes of bicycle use. As Councilman David Cohen commented at the meeting, the public present was united in their strong support for traffic calming, reducing vehicle speeds, installation of more bike lanes, and better pedestrian crossings.

We would also like to thank Steve Cochrane, superintendent of Princeton Public Schools, for encouraging students to come to school on foot or by bike, in order to alleviate the traffic congestion with the closure of the Alexander Road bridge. To help make walking and biking to school more feasible and safer, PBAC has been working with Princeton’s two local bike shops to offer discounts to Princeton school students.

Kopp’s Cycles, the oldest bicycle shop in America, is offering a 10 percent Bike to School discount to school students on accessories and bike parts (not previously marked down or on sale), and on special orders, for the duration of the Alexander Road bridge closure. Visit Kopp’s for more information.

Jay’s Cycles is working on its own Bike to School promotion — to be announced shortly.

Finally, PBAC asks our community, and all who visit here, to help make our roads safer and friendlier to bicyclists and pedestrians. We request implementation of traffic calming and safer pedestrian and bike infrastructure, to reflect the universal support these matters have received at the Council meeting on October 21.

In these months that the Alexander bridge is closed, visible progress would go a long way toward encouraging more of our town to leave their cars at home, and making Princeton a safer, greener, and healthier community.

Lisa Serieyssol
Chair of the Princeton Bicycle Advisory Committee