Proposed Main Street looking toward Princeton Junction Station. West Windsor Princeton Junction Station Area Plan
NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Office of Smart Growth and West Windsor Township completed a Station Area Vision Plan for the Princeton Junction Station in June 2005. Located between Alexander Road and Route 571 in West Windsor, the station is the second busiest in NJ TRANSIT’s commuter rail system and is within the greater Route 1 corridor, a major regional employment hub in the state. The primary goal of this visioning exercise was to create a broad, consensus-based TOD strategy that could accommodate existing and proposed transportation functions, market realities and complement regional and local initiatives at and around the station along the Northeast Corridor Line.
The plan calls for the development of an incremental, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented village centered around the train station. The key principles of the plan include:
- A new intermodal transit plaza
- A new “Main Street” development
- The creation of nine acres of new open space
- New pedestrian linkages and increased bicycle connections through and around the station area
- the creation of three new “districts” in the station area
Specifically, the plan calls for the creation of 120,000 square feet of retail space, 90,000 square feet of hotel space and 85,000 square feet of office space. In addition, approximately 790 residential units would be created in two major developments. The plan specifically discusses the integration of a proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) into the station area and the preservation of the “Dinky” rail service connecting the Princeton Junction station with Princeton Borough and the Princeton University campus. The Township Planning Board is reviewing the proposed boundaries of a redevelopment area centered on the rail station. This represents the next step in the local land use process to determine the area in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment and act upon the recommendations of the vision plan. The Township and NJ TRANSIT are also working with the Department of Transportation to advance the design of a connector road (Vaughn Drive) in the station area, a major infrastructure link which will establish the grid upon which future TOD can occur. Click here for the full document.