Liberty Township
The Butler County Engineer’s Office is pleased to report the recent honor of receiving their tenth American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) transportation improvement award for the Princeton Road at Mauds Hughes Road roundabout installation and superstructure replacement. Recognizing efficiency, safety, and quality of life, the ASHE Triko Valley Section presented the 2023 Donald C. Schramm Transportation Improvement Award for projects under $5 million to the BCEO as owners, design firms LJB Inc., TranSystems, Mead & Hunt, and contractors Rack and Ballauer Excavating Company Inc., and Eagle Bridge Company.
The $4.6 million improvement to Butler County infrastructure financed by the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Public Works Commission, BCEO, and Liberty Township works well to ease congestion and elevate safety on Princeton Road and Mauds Hughes Road now and in the future.
Considering the Princeton Road improvement and past award-winning safety projects, Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens noted several engineering challenges, “Connecting the Princeton Road roundabout to the new bridge as part of the same construction project was complex.” The 2021 roundabout at Wayne Madison Road and Trenton Road required extra turn lanes and a traffic detection system to alert drivers not to block the roundabout during a train event. The 2020 Union Centre Boulevard at I-75 Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI), Ohio’s third, brought free-flowing traffic at a higher capacity to the interchange, easing congestion with fewer conflict points. This innovative and complicated solution to peak hour backups on Union Centre Boulevard included pedestrian access and ramp metering. Though designing and executing the intricate details in these unique safety projects was challenging, the outcomes serve the public well.
Wilkens says, “When we look at safety, it is the number one criterion of almost every project we build. It’s got to provide safety for our citizens.”
To learn more about this and other projects, please visit the BCEO PROJECTS MAP.
ASHE 2023 Princeton Road Roundabout-Bridge L to R: Construction Deputy David Quimby, Design Engineer (bridge) Nick Okuley, Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens, Design Engineer (roundabout) Matt Brubaker, Construction Inspector Ron Young
