JANUARY 2023 FREE
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$190M plan proposed to replace Dinky line BY BILL SANSERVINO
New Jersey Transit is considering a plan to replace the Dinky rail line that runs between the Princeton Junction and Princeton train stations. Stantec—a professional services company in the design and consulting industry hired by N.J. Transit—issued a 44-page Princeton Transitway Study report on Nov. 21. The report evaluated the future of the line, studied alternatives and issued a preliminary concept analysis. The report recommends that the Dinky line be replaced with a dual-purpose light rail line and a bus rapid transit system that can be expanded into other areas. The cost of the project is estimated at $190 million, according to the report, and includes an option to build a pedestrian path paralleling the transitway line. The light rail would be embedded in the bus rapid transit roadway. The BRT component could then be expanded to routes on streets beyond the train stations in both towns to serve other areas. The Dinky is a short rail line that connects downtown Princeton and the Princeton University campus with Princeton Junction station on the Northeast Corridor. The Dinky line is operated by N.J. Transit and
serves as an important transportation link for students, faculty and staff of Princeton University, as well as residents of the towns of Princeton and West Windsor. The line is also a vital connection between Princeton and the mixeduse transit village being built by Avalon Bay at the Princeton Junction train station. The Dinky line is named for the small, two-car trains that operate on it, which are known as “dinkies.” The line has a rich history dating back to 1865, when it was established as a way for passengers to travel between Princeton and Princeton Junction. Despite its small size and local focus, the Dinky line has played a significant role in the history of transportation in the Princeton area. A total of four alternatives were considered by the study: Alternative I: A dedicated transit roadway with embedded light rail; Alternative II: Light rail with parallel dedicated transit roadway; Alternative III: A dedicated transit roadway; and Alternative IV: Build nothing. In recommending the first alternative, the study states that it would, “substantially enhance mobility and access to transit in Princeton and West WindSee DINKY, Page 6
Tanusri Kumar works on her Girl Scout Gold Award project to fully renovate the volleyball court in Duck Pond Park on Meadow Road in West Windsor.
Scout transforms volleyball court in Duck Pond Park BY TANUSRI KUMAR
I have been playing volleyball for the past five years. When the weather is suitable, I prefer practicing outside. During the summer, I was searching for a court to practice at, and I noticed that there were no usable volleyball courts in the West Windsor community. The volleyball courts at Mercer
County Park were either full or in unusable condition. After realizing that the lack of usable volleyball courts was an issue in the community, I believed that resolving this issue could be my Girl Scout Gold Award project. I reached out to Dan Dobromilsky, who is West Windsor’s landscape architect, and asked if I could build a volleyball court at the West
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Windsor Community Park as part of my Girl Scouts project. He said that instead of building a completely new volleyball court, I could renovate the existing sand volleyball court at Duck Pond Park. At that time, I didn’t even know that there was a volleyball court at DPP, because it was mostly covered in weeds. See PROJECT, Page 2
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