Rosedale Road is now open. The roundabout project on Rosedale at General Johnson Drive and Greenway Meadows near Johnson Park Elementary School is finished, just in time for the new school year.
The road had been closed near the school since June. The completed Rosedale Road roundabout project was phase one of the improvements made along the road to create a safer road for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers.
In addition to the construction of the roundabout, Mercer County officials reduced travel lane widths to 11 feet on Rosedale Road approaches, lowered the posted speed limit to 35 miles per hour between Elm Road and Province Line Road while maintaining a speed limit of 25 miles per hour in the school zone, and installed rapid flashing beacons to increase driver awareness of pedestrian crossings. Mercer County collaborated with safe routes to school program coordinators during the conceptual design phase, resulting in the addition of the rumble strips and “school ahead” pavement markings. Johnson Park Elementary School and Greenway Meadows Park officials were consulted during the construction staging design process.
For many years, the intersection has been considered unsafe, with both the local bicycle and pedestrian committee and the PTO at the elementary school raising concerns about the crosswalk there and the safety of pedestrians and school children. The intersection was flagged in a Safe Routes to School report in 2016.
In August of 2021, Princeton resident Pinghua Xu was killed after being struck by a driver while crossing at the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection. The 82-year-old walked in the area every day and was a familiar face to many Princeton residents. He had activated the pedestrian crossing signal before he attempted to cross the road and was struck by the driver of a Lexus SUV.
