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.

A 53-year-old man was hit while crossing Princeton Hightstown Road by Cranbury and Wallace roads on Sunday, March 15 by a distracted driver. He suffered a broken collar bone, a concussion and a cut to the back of his head.

According to the police report, the man, from South Bound Brook, was hit at 1 p.m. by the 30-year-old driver of a Ford F-150. The driver, a Princeton resident, told police that he had just left Dunkin’ Donuts and was making a left turn from Cranbury Road onto Princeton Hightstown Road/County Road 571. He was putting his coffee away, and when he looked up, he saw the man walking and tried to stop but could not stop in time.

The pedestrian told police he could not remember what happened. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

The driver was given a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian. His pickup truck had a small dent in the hood.

Police reported two witnesses. One was in the vehicle behind the driver and was waiting for the man to cross the road. She reported that the light was green and that the man was crossing in the crosswalk. A second witness captured the collision with his car camera. It showed the man walking from the corner with Walgreen’s toward the corner with PNC Bank. He was hit in the back by the pick-up truck and hit the ground face first.

The WWBPA wishes the pedestrian a speedy recovery and asks that all drivers remain alert for people on foot. Please put away your coffee cup while your car is stopped!

Do you have stories to share about crossing this intersection on foot? Email us at wwbikeped@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Saturday looks really wet, so we are moving our Celebrate Trails Day walk through the Rogers Preserve to SUNDAY (April 26).

We will gather at the Berkshire Drive end of the Preserve (at the end of the cul de sac) at 12:45 p.m. for a 1 p.m. start.

This promises to be a family-friendly, flat and fun walk through one of the many preserved tracts of land in West Windsor. There’s also quite a range of vegetation. Can you find the remnants of the Christmas tree farm that was once here? And who can name the two U.S. presidents who reportedly have been there?

We will be walking for about an hour, but for those looking for something longer, we will add on a walk to one of the nearby Millstone River trails. Plan on about two hours for both.

No matter which distance you choose, please bring water to stay hydrated. Ticks and insects will be out by then, so prepare to avoid them in whatever way you prefer.  And thank you to WWBPA board member Henry Murphy and his hardy trail crew for keeping this and other trails in good shape.

You can just show up on Sunday and walk with us, but help us out by pre-registering here. We’ve got some special give-aways too.

Parking is on neighborhood streets, so please be courteous.

A tradition at the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance’s annual meeting is to present our Community Service Award to those who have contributed to making our community a better place to walk and bike.

This year we selected two men who stepped down from the WWBPA board at this meeting: Brian Clissold and Daryl McMillan.

Brian, pictured on the left, served as a WWBPA trustee for 12 years. He is the maestro behind our Ride of Silence every May and the Martian Bike Ride that happens just before Halloween. Of course you may also know him from his Road Maestro mobile bike repair business, which has provided quick fixes to bikes at our events as well as support to many other area rides.

Daryl, pictured on the right, was the last of our founding board members, serving for 20 years.  The WWBA would not have survived for five years, let alone 20 years, without the hard work and passion of Daryl and our other founders.

Among other things, Daryl was the creator of the WWBPA’s first bike-walk map, back when the technology wasn’t as easy as it is today. A comparison between that map and our current one shows just how far West Windsor has come.

Daryl also has a long-standing interest in bicycle education and was particularly involved with our annual Learn to Bike Class. And for many years you would see him behind our table at the farmers market. Do you remember his Martian costume at the Halloween market?

Thank you both for all you have done for the WWBPA and for West Windsor.