Storm Update and Princeton Area Delays and Cancellations for Thursday, February 6

Ice storm, February 5, 2014.  Down tree and power line on Elm Ridge Rd, Hopewell, blocked traffic all day. Thanks very much to the hardworking crew who eventually cleared it. Credit: Glenn Cantor.
Ice storm, February 5, 2014.  A downed tree and power line on Elm Ridge Road in Hopewell Township, blocked traffic all day. Thanks very much to the hardworking crew who eventually cleared it. Credit: Glenn Cantor.

 

The region continues to recover from a major ice storm. Many locations saw over a quarter inch of ice accumulation, and there were major power outages across the region. Mercer County was hit harder than any other county in the PSE&G service area, with Lawrence, Ewing and Princeton topping the list.

As of 6 a.m. Thursday, 3,165  PSE&G customers in Mercer County were still without power, including more than 1,300 Princeton residents. Princeton comprises more than 40 percent of the remaining outages. It is unclear why so many Princeton residents are still without power when neighboring municipalities that originally had a larger number of outages have mostly been restored. Lawrence, for example, had more than 5,500 outages yesterday. That number is down to 378 outages as of 6 a.m.

Colder air moved into the region last night, causing roadways and sidewalks to freeze up. Be prepared for slippery travel conditions for the Thursday morning commute.

The next potential storm system is late Saturday into Sunday. “This is the infamous storm hyped by social media & Internet a week ago as bringing 30-plus inches of snow,” says Gary Szatkowski of the National Weather Service. “It was nonsense then; it’s nonsense now.”

Current information indicates a weak to moderate storm, which would have less impact than what we saw from the Monday storm, The National Weather Service will have more details about any snow and/or ice amounts later today.

Warming Stations

If you do not have power and need to warm up, the municipal building at 400 Witherspoon Street is open. Use the police department entrance on Valley Road. Other warming stations:

The Princeton Public Library

The Lawrence Senior Center on Darrah Lane.

The Montgomery Senior Center.

Princeton Recreation Department employees work to clear storm drains well before dawn Wednesday.
Princeton Recreation Department employees work to clear storm drains.

School Closings and Delays

Most area schools are back to a regular schedule today.

The Princeton Public Schools will have a 90-minute delayed opening. 6:45 a.m.update:
“All schools will open today on a 90-minute delay schedule. Please be advised that transportation routes may change due to road conditions. We are grateful for your flexibility and patience. The board thanks the administration, Princeton Police and our bus vendors for working on a solution that will allow all students to safely get to school.”

The Hun School and the Pennington School will have delayed openings, 9:30 a.m. The Lawrenceville School will open at 10 a.m.

Princeton University resumes normal operations at 8:45 a.m.

Princeton Day School, Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, and Stuart Country Day School still have no power and are closed.

Transit

New Jersey Transit Rail service will operate on a regular weekday schedule today.

Road Closures

As of 7:15 a.m., the following Princeton roads were still closed:

Mercer Street closed between Lovers Lane and Springdale Road.

Rosedale Road closed from Elm Road to General Johnson Drive (Johnson Park School) All School traffic should use Carter Road.

Province Line Road closed between Route 206 and Rosedale Road.

Stuart Rd. between Bouvant and Hardy Drive

The following traffic lights are not functioning at this time:

Rt. 206/Mountain Ave.
Great Rd/Stuart Rd.

From Princeton Police: All motorists should use extreme caution when driving. Numerous trees and wires are still down throughout Princeton.

Trees Down

200 block of Herrontown
200 block of Shadybrook
1st block of Pheasant Hill
300 block of Russell Rd
300 block of Jefferson
1st block of Hardy Dr.
700 block of PK Rd
900 block of Stuart Rd.
Audubon/Province Line
Bouvant Dr.
Clover at Abernathy
Dickinson St.
Griggs Drive Loop
Herrontown at Bunn
Loomis Ct
Park Pl.
Poor Farm Rd.
Prettybrook btwn Great/Pheasant Hill
Ridgeview Rd.
Ridgeview Cir.
Rosedale at Christopher
Littlebrook North/Magnolia
Witherspoon/Hulfish

Wires Down

1200 block of Great Rd.
Horner La
200 block of Mercer
300 block of Western Way
700 block Prospect
1st block of Jefferson
Bertrand Dr.
Elm Rd. /Alison Rd
Evergreen Cir
Hemlock Cir
Hun Rd.
Lake at Riverside
Linden at Hamilton
Maple St
McCosh Cir.
Morgan Pl.
Parkside Dr.
Rosedale Lane
Woodside at Prospect
Province Line/Rosedale
Riverside/Sycamore
Alexander/Lawrence

Trees and Wires 

1000 block of Mercer
1000 block of Stuart Rd
1st block of Dickinson
1st block of Hemlock
1st block of Dodds
1st block of Bank St.
1st block of Haslet
200 block of Mercer
1st block of Race
1st block of Mason Dr.
1st block of Lovers
500 block of Mercer
601 Ewing St. (roadway closed)
1st block of Bertrand
Basin St.
Clover/Deer Path
Cuyler/Ewing
Edgerstn/Hun Sch
Harrison/Hamilton
Hun/Edgerstoune
Lilac at Hodge
Mercer/Gallup
Mt Lucas/Ewing
Rosedale/ Gen. Johnson    JP School
Springdale/Newlin
Stuart/Cherry Hill
Tyson La.
Winant/Hun School
Drakes Corner Rd.

Block number indicate a range on any given street where a problem exists. If your specific house number is not listed but your block is, we have any wires/trees down on our list. DPW crews are working to clear all streets, and PSE&G has been notified of downed wires.

We will update this list as we learn about any other delays or cancellations for the day.

 

Avatar of Krystal Knapp

Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.

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