County Engineer Basit (Sunny) Muzaffar, P.E., will receive this year’s Government Service Award from the Professional Engineers Society of Mercer County (PESMC), and two County projects – the Rosedale Road mini-roundabout in Princeton and the Lower Ferry Road bridge over Gold Run in Ewing – will receive Engineering Project of the Year awards, Mr. Hughes said.

“Mercer County is grateful for the recognition by the Professional Engineers Society,” Mr. Hughes said. “The Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Engineering Division does exceptional work, and I congratulate Sunny and his team on being chosen for these well-deserved awards.”

The County of Mercer and Traffic Planning and Design Inc. of Freehold, which finalized design work, are being honored for the Rosedale Road project, which involved construction of a mini-roundabout at the intersection of Rosedale Road and the entrances to Johnson Park Elementary School and Greenway Meadows Park. The project arose out of the Municipality of Princeton’s concerns for the safety of pedestrians, particularly school children, walking to the school and the park. It was engineered to increase pedestrian safety, control speeds along Rosedale Road and decrease congestion in the area during peak school and park operation hours. Construction, which was completed by prime contractor Orchard Holdings LLC of Manasquan, began in late June 2022 and was completed in late August, prior to the start of the new school year. The total cost of the mini-roundabout was $736,540.

The County of Mercer and French & Parrello Associates of Wall Township, which provided design and engineering services, are being honored for the Lower Ferry Road bridge project, which involved replacing a bridge that had been deemed structurally deficient due to a wide vertical crack in one of the sidewalls. Comprehensive collaboration, historic consideration, local aesthetics and state-of-the-art design concepts were all critical elements to the successful replacement of the bridge, according to French & Parrello. The nearly $2.5 million project maximized the use of precast elements, with construction successfully completed in about four months to avoid environmental timing restrictions and minimize impacts to major area employers. The construction contract for the project was awarded to CMS construction Inc. of Plainfield. The project was completed on schedule and on budget in December 2022.