About 20 kids attended our annual Learn to Bike class this year, and we are beyond thrilled that almost all left pedaling on two wheels.

Congratulations to all! We know that learning to ride a bike is hard work! And we know those who didn’t quite master balancing and pedaling will do so very soon.

If you know someone who is interested in signing up a child for our class next year, we recommend they get on the mailing list so they are among those who hear about it first. The class fills up quickly!

If you are looking for a class for your child this year, reach out via email, and we can point you toward some options.

Many thanks to the West Windsor Parking Authority for allowing us to use the Upper Vaughn Drive lot and for the West Windsor Farmers Market for all its support.

Get some fresh air on the way to getting fresh vegetables. The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance is leading a casual, pick-your-distance bike ride to the West Windsor farmers market on May 30 to close out National Bike Month.

The ride will start at Conover Field in the northern parking lot at 9:30 a.m. We’ll take back roads, bike lanes, and a portion of the Trolley Line trail and get to the farmers market by 10:15 a.m.

Join from the start and do 5 miles, or join at one of two meeting points along the way for a shorter ride. The additional pick-up points will be on the Trolley Line Trail at Brian’s Way (3-mile ride to the market) and by West Windsor Arts, at Scott Avenue and Alexander Road (1-mile ride to the market).

Here’s the route.

All are welcome, though children under age 13 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Helmets are required. Remember to bring a backpack or something else to safely carry your purchases home.

You can register and sign a waiver at Conover Field or at whichever pickup point you join in. Arrive a little early and be ready to roll at 9:30 a.m. from Conover Field. We hope to be at the Trolley Line Trail at Brian’s Way at 9:40 a.m. or soon after, and at West Windsor Arts at 9:50 a.m. or soon after.

There is an optional group ride back to Conover Field that will leave the farmers market at 11:15 a.m.

We will have a free prize drawing by the WWBPA tent at the farmers market for all participants. Ride to the market on May 30, and you might get a free $5 Market Bucks token! (One prize per family.)

New Jersey’s unusually restrictive e-bike law took effect on Jan. 16, and the six-month grace period on enforcement expires in two months.

Here’s what you need to know:

• No e-bike-riding allowed for those under 15 years old
• Everyone else riding any kind of e-bike needs a license, registration and insurance. Those 15 and 16 years old (ie too young for a drivers license) will need a special license.
• The new categories are low-speed electric bicycles, motorized bicycles, and electric motorized bicycle. The first is similar to the old class 1 label, and the second is closer to the old class 2 and class 3 categories. Electric motorized bicycled are e-motos.
• The first year of registration is free.

You can find out more about the law here.

BUT…. there’s lots of work being done by advocates to get the law changed.

Why should you care?

As New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition says, e-bikes are how teens get to school, college students get across campus and between transit stops, workers get to jobs, seniors who may no longer drive stay connected to daily life and people without cars get around their communities. They are also an important mobility tool for riders with disabilities and individuals on the autism spectrum who may rely on cycling for independence and access.

Plus they support recreation, fitness and everyday riding across New Jersey.

E-bikes already are in our community. Some people commute to the Princeton Junction train station this way, as the photo at the top shows. On the other hand, Princeton University has said no more e-bikes on almost all of its campus starting June 1.

What’s next?

New Jersey bicycle advocates and bicycle shops are working hard to change the law.

The most basic fix being sought is that low-speed electric bicycles that max out at 20 mph should not be subject to license, registration, or insurance requirements. If you agree, contact elected state officials. Here’s a template for a letter.

You also can join a short bike ride (on a regular or low-speed e-bike) and protest in Trenton on Thursday, May 21. If you can’t come by bike, you can join at the State House. Details are here.

It’s sign-up time for the WWBPA’s once-a-year Learn to Bike class for kids, happening this year on May 16 at the WW farmers market.

The class will be held in the upper Vaughn Drive parking lot (next to the farmers market). Children should be at least 5 years old. Please bring a working bicycle that fits your child, a helmet (required!), and this completed waiver form.

Then leave the teaching to us while you shop at the market.

We ask that you let us know whether you expect to arrive between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., or later. We find kids learn best together, but we need some time to take off their pedals.

We will end the class at 12:30 p.m.

We urge you to pre-register. We will cap the number of kids (preliminarily at 15), and we filled up in less than 48 hours last year, just from one email.

While this class is free, priority will be given to WWBPA members. Non-members will be put on a waiting list. So parents, please consider becoming a member to guarantee your slot.

Your membership supports our efforts to make West Windsor a safer and more enjoyable place for everyone to walk and bike.

Email us at wwbikeped@gmail.com to pre-register (let us know which arrival time you prefer) or if you have any questions.

This class will not be repeated in 2026. If May 16 doesn’t fit your schedule, we can point you toward other options.

The WWBPA is once again hosting Central Jersey’s only Ride of Silence to honor those killed or injured while bicycling on the road.

As always, it happens on the third Wednesday of May, so May 20 this year.

We will meet at 6:45 p.m. outside the West Windsor Senior Center (part of the larger municipal complex) on Clarksville Road for a group photo. You’ll also register and sign the waiver then. We roll out at 7 p.m. for a 10-mile, 10-12 mph ride with a police escort. Here’s the route.

Helmets are required. Don’t forget lights and/or reflective gear.

All are welcome. We will ride as a group as much as possible.

The Ride of Silence is an international event that happens at 7 p.m. local time on the third Wednesday in May (National Bike Month). Last year, rides happened in 203 locations.

By participating in this Ride of Silence, you agree to let photos from the ride be used by the WWBPA.

The WWBPA and its wheel at the Wicoff science fair.

We’ve been out and about a lot in these last couple of weeks!

We talked with students in all grades at Grover Middle School about being predictable when biking and being visible when both walking and biking. We handed out reflective stickers through their teachers and are looking forward to seeing lots of reflective stickers on bicycles, helmets and scooters this summer!

Then we took our “Spin the Wheel” game to the Wicoff Elementary School science fair and handed out reflective stickers to those who spun the wheel and answered a question about walking or biking safely. (We were at 3 schools in January; you can read about that here.)

Finally, we were at the St. Anthony of Padua Church health and wellness fair in Hightstown, once again talking safety and giving reflective stickers to those who spun the wheel. Thanks to our generous members, we were once again able to offer reflective gear, bicycle helmets and bicycle lights at price points that work for those who rely on bicycles to get to work.

Back in the fall, the WWBPA arranged a “walk and talk” with Mercer County’s engineer to discuss the new multi-use path on Edinburg Road by Mercer County Park. Part of the feedback was the need for pedestrian-activated flashing lights (rectangular rapid-flashing beacons to engineers) at the new crosswalk from Howell Court to help residents safely cross Edinburg Road (a county road).

We are thrilled that Mercer County installed the flashing lights last month. Thank you!

Belated thanks too to West Windsor and PSE&G for installing brighter street lights at the intersection of Rabbit Hill Road and Abbington Lane/Bennington Drive, where a 12-year-old was killed by a driver in November 2023.

Do you live near that corner? We’d love to hear your thoughts about the street lights.

West Windsor government officials have proposed a capital improvement budget for FY26-27 that once again includes money for biking and walking projects — but also makes a cut in one key area.

Here’s what’s proposed:

• $250,000 for the next phase of the Cranbury Road sidewalk project, on top of $250,000 in the FY25-26 budget and $50,000 in FY24-25 budget. This project will link Van Nest Park on Cranbury Road and the entrance to the Trolley Line Trail on Rabbit Hill Road. At the first budget meeting with council members, township officials said they expect to bring them a contract for the design work in April. This is a long-awaited and crucial step toward getting to actual construction.
• $200,000 for additional bike lanes and bikeways, the same as last year. The budget notes that funds budgeted from 2022 to 2025 are expected to be used for current projects such as the Conover Road and North Post Road bikeways, for which the township received state grants. Those two projects are expected to be built this year.
• $200,000 for additional sidewalks, the same as a year ago. The budget notes that funds from 2022-2025 are still available for current projects, singling out the North Post and Conover roads bikeways as well as a project in Penn’s Neck. That project, on the south side of Washington Road, would improve the existing sidewalk and fill in any gaps between the indoor tennis facility and Wallingford Drive. The result would be a consistent sidewalk between Station Drive and Wallingford. (We were told right-of-way issues make it hard to go closer to U.S. 1) That project also proposes a crosswalk at Manor Avenue and Washington Road.
• $20,000 for crosswalk improvements, down from $100,000 in each of the past two years and a return to the level where it had been for years. Funds from the past three budgets have been allocated for pedestrian-activated yellow flashing lights, known as rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, near several schools and along the Trolley Line Trail. At the same budget meeting, township officials said they expect to have RRFBs installed during 2026 at six locations: Penn Lyle Road and the Trolley Line Trail; Village Road East by Dutch Neck School; New Village Road and Shannon Way; New Village Road and Southfield Road; Penn Lyle Road and Canoe Brook Drive; and Alexander Road and Harris Road.
  The WWBPA will continue to advocate that this safety measure be installed in several other locations, including at the intersection of North Post Road and Municipal and Courtney drives, where a 73-year-old was struck by a pick-up truck in December, and at Rabbit Hill Road and Abbingdon Lane/Bennington Drive, where a 12-year-old was killed in the crosswalk in 2023.
• $150,000 for sidewalk repairs because of damage caused by street trees, the same as a year ago.

In addition, the budget proposed $850,000 for a roundabout at the intersection of Village Road West, New Village Road and Baxter Place (near St. David the King Catholic Church). Concept plans also include RRFBs at the location. Council members have asked to see the design.

Other road projects include:

• $250,000 toward an eventual widening of Meadow Road between Clarksville Road and Duck Pond Park. The budget projects another $900,000 will be needed in each of the next two years to fund this project. The budget also notes that Mercer County’s planned replacement of the county bridge over Duck Pond Run is projected to be under construction this year.
• $1.25 million for road resurfacing and other improvements to residential streets.
• $1 million for resurfacing and other improvements to Southfield Road, from Princeton Hightstown Road/County Road 571 to the Millstone River bridge and from the bridge over the Bear Brook to the Cranbury Golf Club. The township received a NJDOT Municipal Aid grant of $487,584 for this project, or 38% of the $1.278 million it had sought. The $750,000 budgeted last year for busier roads known as collector roads will be used for improvements to Village Road West between Quakerbridge Road to the west end of Windsor Ponds, as previously stated.
• $6,000 for signage and striping improvements.

Finally, the budget notes that funding from 2021 through 2024 for the annual utility maintenance and improvement program is expected to be used for pedestrian lighting improvements as part of the bigger revamp of Princeton-Hightstown Road between Cranbury/Wallace roads and Clarksville Road. Another $25,000 for the utility program is proposed in the FY26-27 budget.

Public hearings on both the operating budget and capital improvement program are generally held in May or June prior to a vote by the township council.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance was recently honored with one of New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition‘s 2026 Marty Epstein Advocates of the Year awards.

This award recognizes our successful grassroots work in transforming West Windsor over 20 years into a better community for biking and walking. The award was presented to six of our board members at the New Jersey Bike Walk Summit in March, and we displayed it at our annual meeting. Watch for it to make an appearance at another event!

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we also have been honored to receive a $1,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Princeton Corridor to support our work and a proclamation detailing some of our impact from the West Windsor mayor and council.

The West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance will once again award up to $1,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors.

Applicants must be residents of West Windsor or Plainsboro who attend West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North or South, or West Windsor high school seniors who attend another area private school or are home-schooled.

The deadline for applications is April 15.

For more details and the scholarship application form, click here.