Pennington officials hope $220,000 in federal grant money will make the intersection between Curlis Avenue and South Main Street safer for children.

Many children cross South Main Streen on the way to Toll Gate Grammar School.

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Pennington Borough will use $220,000 in grant funds to make improvements to two and possibly a third intersection near two schools.

The improvements aim to make walking to school safer for schoolchildren. The intersections, South Main Street at Curlis Avenue and West Delaware Avenue at Green Street, are situated near Toll Gate Grammar School and the Pennington School, respectively.

Councilman Tom Ogren, who applied for the grant last year, said some of the proposed improvements include narrowing the roadways and installing pole-mounted flashing lights at the intersections. Ogren said narrowing the roads would slow down traffic and shorten the crosswalk.

Currently, the road is wide enough to allow cars to go around vehicles making a left off Main Street, which Ogren said made it difficult to cross. Narrowing the road would also correct this.

In addition, the borough might also use the grant money to raise the crosswalk at Curlis Avenue on Burd Street, one block west of Toll Gate. Raising the crosswalk will act as a speedbump.

The borough will weigh these and other proposals in deciding how to improve the intersections. Pennington is paying for the design process itself, since the grant money is slated only for construction.

The $220,000 grant is part of a federal program called “Safe Routes to School.” According to the Web site of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which administers the grant, the program is meant to encourage children to walk or bike to school.

“Hopefully more students will walk given these improvements,” Ogren said.

Ogren said he hopes the improvements will facilitate walking not only to Toll Gate and the Pennington School, but also for students walking from the center of town to Timberlane Middle School and Hopewell Valley Central High School. But many students already walk to Toll Gate, which counts about 240 Pennington residents among its 360 students.

The borough plans to make other safety improvements to South Main Street in addition to the crosswalk changes. Ogren said they would also consider making changes to a parking lot on the northeast side corner of the Curlis Avenue-South Main Street intersection and install missing curbing along the street.

Pennington received one of the largest grants, which range from $10,000 to $300,000.

“We’re actually quite lucky to get the grant, since it’s pretty competitive,” Ogren said.

The borough had applied unsuccessfully for the grant before he joined the council. Luckily for Pennington, part of Ogren’s responsibilities at his old job as assistant township manager for East Windsor included grant writing.

Ogren consulted with officials from Toll Gate, the Pennington School and the Hopewell Valley school district about the plans.

While Daniel Umstead, principal of Toll Gate Grammar School, acknowledged that it could be difficult for drivers on South Main Street to see cars turning on to the road from Curlis Avenue, he asserted that the intersection was safe, thanks to the posting of a crossing guard and a safety officer in front of the school.

“I really don’t have much to say about the situation as it impacts our school because it really doesn’t,” he said.

Pennington Mayor Anthony Persichilli wouldn’t call the intersection dangerous, either.

“It’s not unsafe at this point,” he said. “It’s like anything. You don’t want an accident to occur before you make a move.”

Graeme McWhirter, chief financial officer for the Pennington School, is situated around the Green Street and West Delaware Avenue intersection, struck a different tone. A small group of about 15 to 20 students living in a dorm on Green Street cross during school days to get to class, while many more athletes cross Delaware Avenue from Pennington School to get to the fields on the north side of the avenue.

“We always have concerns about the safety of the kids there,” he said.

McWhirter said he appreciated the borough’s efforts to slow traffic down.

“At times (Delaware Avenue is) high-traffic, certainly during the hours when kids are going to school,” he said. “Our feeling is people tend to exceed the speed limit (of 25 mph) when coming down there.”

The students of Pennington School and Toll Gate will have to cope for at least one more academic year. Ogren said he hopes to see construction start during next year’s summer break.

Staff photos by Myles Ma.

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