Mother Of Accident Victim: Fix The Jacques Lane/Canal Road Intersection

The mother of a 23-year-old township woman whose car plunged into the Delaware & Raritan Canal at Jacques Lane and Canal Road pleaded with the Township Council on August 9 to replace a barrier at that intersection.

Sara Goyal was able to extricate herself from her car with the use of a glass-breaking tool and with instruction from Franklin Township police officers.

Once out of the car, she swam to the bank where she was rescued and treated for her minor injuries.

Vidhu Goyal, the woman’s mother, asked the Council to replace the barrier.

“If my daughter had not had that window break tool, she would not have been able to get out in time,” she said. “There was nobody there who would have known that her car was there, it quickly submerged.”

“Why was that guard rail not there?” she asked.

“July 21 it was not there and because of that my daughter’s life was put at risk,” she said. “This was her nightmare for the past three or four years, which is why she had that window break tool.”

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker told her that a “supply chain issue” with the guard rail’s manufacturer is holding up the process.

He said he ordered the rail two weeks ago.

The canal is controlled by the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission, he said, and it is that organization which picks contractors for various projects.

“We have to do a better job of protecting that intersection,” Councilman Ram Anbarasan (D-At Large) said. “Our traffic department is going to look at that … let our traffic department do our research and come up with some ideas.”

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