Rising Star – Keith Meehan

Keith Meehan is a Senior Engineering Project Manager in the Traffic Engineering and Operations Department of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. He has been a member of ITE since 2014 and was appointed by the MASITE Board as the Local Membership Chairperson (served until 2017). Keith became the MASITE Golf Outing Coordinator in 2015, growing the attendance from 40 to over 100 recurring attendees and facilitating the MASITE vs ITSPA Golf Challenge that consistently provides annual charitable donations to organizations including the Central PA Food bank and Project Accelerate, a PA STEM initiative. Additionally, Keith served as Chair for the 2023 MASITE Annual Meeting in Hershey, PA which hosted 212 attendees and 14 vendors. He then lobbied the MASITE Board to use event proceeds to support attendance of a MASITE Young Professional at the 2024 ITE International Annual Meeting in Philadelphia through a scholarship program.

Congratulations, Keith!

Project of the Year – I-66/Nutley Street Interchange Project, RK&K

The interchange project is part of the Transform I-66 Outside the Beltway Project in Northern Virginia. The new Nutley Street/I-66 Interchange, which includes a double roundabout, provides safer, more efficient travel for vehicles entering and exiting I-66 East and West. It also improves safety for vehicles and pedestrians traveling on Nutley Street. Grade-separated shared-use path and sidewalk through the interchange connect with bicycle and pedestrian improvements around the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metrorail station and a shared-use path being built into the Town of Vienna.

Richard Clifton, PE, PTOE and Rakesh Mora, PE, PTOE accepted the award on behalf of the project team.

Learn more about the project!

Honorable Mentions: Medium-Scale Project Delivery, DDOT & Virtual Queue Protection Corridors, PennDOT

Medium-Scale Project Delivery, DDOT: The gap between DDOT’s Large Capital Design & Construction Projects and Small Site-Specific Projects highlighted the need for a dedicated method for the delivery of medium-scale projects.

Medium-scale projects work within the existing curb-to-curb width, use primarily “quick build” materials, and minimize geo-metric work and impacts to utilities and right-of-way. The result is meaningful improvements to promote safety across modes. DDOT’s new medium-scale project delivery approach uses several innovative means and methods to accelerate project delivery. These methods drive DDOT’s decision-making and keep the focus on the true purpose and need of these projects, improving safety outcomes for all road users.

Virtual Queue Protection Corridors, PennDOT: Drawing on the recognized industry need to reduce the incidence of secondary crashes, as well as the need for additional data on demonstrated safety and operational benefits, PennDOT delivered the Virtual Queue Protection Corridors. Alongside PennDOT’s ATMS vendor, a corridors module was developed for the system. The corridors module allows for a given section of a route to be geofenced to define the extent of the corridor and the message boards to be included in the corridor. Once active, traffic speeds within the corridor are monitored on a segment-by-segment basis. When detected speeds drop below a defined threshold, messages warning of queuing ahead are automatically posted to upstream message boards within the corridor. The module also automatically calculates the distance between the back of the queue and each message board and informs motorists how far ahead to expect the queue. Speed thresholds can be configured to alert users to slow traffic as opposed to stopped traffic ahead, and those thresholds also determine the priority with which the automated messages post to signs. PennDOT has implemented 18 automated queue detection corridors statewide, covering 600 miles of roadway, at virtually no additional cost beyond the initial investment to develop and build the functionality in ATMS.

2025 ITE Mid-Colonial District Project of the Year Submissions
  1. Virtual Queue Protection Corridors, PennDOT – TSMO category *Honorable Mention
  2. Artificial Intelligence-enhanced Intelligent Transportation Management System (AI-ITMS), DelDOT – TSMO category
  3. I-66/Nutley Street Interchange, RK&K – Traffic Engineering, Safety, TSMO, Complete Streets categories **2025 ITE Mid-Colonial District Project of the Year
  4. Casho Mill Road Clankers, DelDOT – Traffic Engineering and Safety categories
  5. SR 1 Dewey Beach Pedestrian Safety Improvements, DelDOT – Safety category
  6. SR 1 Median Barrier, DelDOT – Safety category
  7. Reduced Crash Thresholds for All-Way Stop Control at Low-Volume Intersections, DelDOT and RK&K – Safety and Traffic Engineering categories
  8. Pennsylvania Statewide Work Zone Speed Safety Camera Program, RK&K, PennDOT and PA Turnpike Commission – Safety and TSMO categories
  9. Medium-Scale Project Delivery, DDOT – Complete Streets, Safety, and Traffic Engineering categories *Honorable Mention

As part of the District Project of the Year program, four projects were selected by the judging panel and submitted to ITE for consideration in their selection of Transportation Achievement Awards. These projects are:

  • Complete Streets Category: Medium-Scale Project Delivery, DDOT and various consulting partners
  • Safety Category: PA Statewide Work Zone Speed Safety Camera Program, RK&K
  • TSM&O Category: PennDOT Virtual Queue Protection Corridors, PennDOT
  • Traffic Engineering Category: I-66/Nutley Street Interchange, RK&K

Volunteers of the Year – Owen Hitchcock & Sarah Adsit

Susan L. Best Legacy of Service Award

The Susan L. Best Legacy of Service award was not awarded in 2025. It was last awarded in 2024, its inaugural year, to Sidney New!

Past President’s Award

The 2025 ITE Mid-Colonial District Past President Award goes to Vivek Hariharan! Thank you, Vivek for your service to the District and congratulations!