Princeton Council took a step toward a more bike-friendly town at their meeting on Monday night by approving a proposal for bike lanes on North Harrison Street near the Princeton Shopping Center (map). The project will also bring safety improvements for pedestrians. It is conceived as a trial, and the town will be studying the effects on traffic before making permanent improvements at a future date.

Last November, Princeton Council received a report from consultants who had been working to identify safety improvements to the North Harrison Street – South Harrison Street corridor (Report: “North Harrison Street Improvements Set To Begin Between Nassau St and Franklin Ave, With Bicycle Improvements To Follow“). One aspect of this report was to reduce the number of lanes on North Harrison Street in the area around Princeton Shopping Center, and use the extra road space to make safe facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. The town’s Engineering Department now have a specific plan to do that, which was unveiled on Monday night. The part of North Harrison Street between Terhun Road at the north and Clearview Avenue in the south will change from having two traffic lanes in each direction to just one lane in each direction.

This reduction in lanes (called a ‘road diet’) is not expected to impact car traffic much, because the rest of North Harrison Street only has one lane in each direction at the present time. It will, however, create space for bike lanes in each direction, and a new sidewalk on the west side of North Harrison Street. To test the new configuration, the town will run a ‘pilot’ this year, by repainting the road. If the traffic impacts are reasonable, then there will be further, permanent improvements in coming years. The town will evaluate the volume of traffic and traffic speed during the pilot. The number of bicyclists and level of stress experienced by cyclists will also be measured.

In addition to the bike lanes, North Harrison Street will get ‘bike boxes’ at intersections, which are green areas where cyclists can wait ahead of traffic, and which make it easier for bicyclists to make turns. The pedestrian island at the intersection of North Harrison Street and Valley Road will also be extended, to make it easier for walkers to cross near the entrance to the Princeton Shopping Center. the new bike lanes on North Harrison Street will connect to bike lanes that are being installed on Terhune Road to the north (Report: “Terhune Road Construction Begins to Add Bike Lanes, New Paths“).

In public comment, two local residents expressed concern about potential traffic impacts on Ewing Street, which they argued is sometimes used by people trying to by-pass traffic signals on North Harrison Street.

Related materials:

• Engineer’s memo outlining pilot project on North Harrison Street, dated June 6, 2025.
• Video of Council meeting of June 9, 2025, includes discussion of bike lanes starting at 46′:33