The West Windsor Township Council on Sept. 29 adopted Ordinance 2025-15 to set a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit on a short section of Alexander Road, following a public hearing and an engineering certification supporting the change. The council voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance after hearing several residents urge additional adjustments on nearby blocks.

The change applies to the portion of Alexander Road described in the ordinance amending Chapter 168 (Traffic and Parking) of the township code. Council members voted yes in a roll-call vote: Gawas, Jeevers, Weiss, Whitfield and Mandel.

Residents pressing the council at the public hearing said the reduction will improve pedestrian safety at nearby crossings and asked the council to expand the 25-mph zone. "If somebody were to go 25 miles an hour versus 30 miles an hour, there's a 1.5 second difference," said Dave Kimmel, a West Windsor resident, who noted the segment being lowered is about 320 feet. Another resident, Kevin Ranello, urged the council to also include the stretch between the roundabout and Wallace Road, which a resident calculated at roughly 430 feet and said would add about a two-second difference in travel time.

Mayor Andrea and township staff explained the change followed an engineering evaluation and a formal certification by the township engineer, which allowed the work to proceed without the longer traffic study process sometimes required for speed-limit changes. Township staff and the mayor said adding the neighboring section would require restarting the engineering certification process and reintroducing an ordinance, so the council proceeded with the certified section now and will consider separate action for the additional block.

Township staff described the administrative timeline: once the mayor signs the ordinance, there is a statutory 20-day period before the changes take legal effect, after which the Department of Public Works will install signs. Officials also said they will review placement of existing "Your Speed" signs and any pedestrian-signal timing issues raised during public comment.

The council president and mayor directed staff to follow up with the township engineer about whether a separate certification and ordinance could cover the adjacent stretch to Wallace Road, as residents requested. No change to the ordinance language was made at the meeting.

Citizens and council members framed the issue as a localized safety measure: speakers cited two marked crosswalks near Harris Road and The Gables and said consistent speeds across the corridor would help protect seniors and students who cross there. The council approved the amendment to the traffic schedule and instructed staff to implement the signed ordinance after the statutory waiting period.

The council also opened questions about signal timing and sign placement; staff agreed to inspect the all-red pedestrian signal at Harris and Clarksville and to confirm positions of posted speed signs along the corridor.