The Harford County roundabout made entirely of recycled milk jugs has won a statewide award for innovation and cost-saving from the County Engineers Association of Maryland (CEAM). The Harford County Department of Public Works’ Highways Division earned the 2026 Small Project of the Year Aw ard for the project installed at the intersection of Bel Air South Parkway and Blue Spruce Drive, completed in October 2025. The intersection had seen the most crashes in the county, and roundabouts are shown to reduce the severity of car crashes and associated injuries. New roundabout at Bail Air South Parkway and Blue Spruce Drive. Photo via Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly’s office. “This award recognizes the ingenuity and hard work of our Public Works team, who found an innovative way to improve road safety and efficiency while saving taxpayers $1.5 million,” said Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly. “It’s a great example of the practical, forward-thinking solutions our county employees bring to their work every day.” Each square foot of roundabout reuses more than 100 one-gallon milk jugs, and the structures reused the equivalent of about 370,000 milk jugs in total. The recycled plastic formed the modular units to create the roundabout. It is the first of its kind in Harford County and one of the first in Maryland. The county designed and constructed the roundabout in-house, which eliminated the need for using outside contractors. The design avoided the need for excavation and saved labor usually required for the typical concrete roundabout. All these factors reduced overall construction time and the cost of the project, the use of recycled milk jugs alone saving approximately $1.5 million. The Project of the Year Award is presented to the outstanding County Project that “demonstrates responsiveness to citizens’ needs, cost effectiveness, and innovative use of County staff and funds,” according to the CEAM website. Awards are given for small (less than $1 million), mid-size (between $1 million and $5 million), and large projects (greater than $5 million). The roundabout was designed and installed entirely by the County’s DPW Highway Engineering team and DPW crews. Photo via Harford County, Maryland website. The installation of Harford County’s roundabout required extensive road closures and signs around the Festival at Bel Air shopping center. It was expected to take a week to complete but finished two days ahead of schedule, with all area roads reopened two days earlier than expected. The project required large-scale coordination with the State Highway Administration and area businesses to minimize disruption to traffic and business operations. “This new modular roundabout is an important traffic safety improvement at the county’s most dangerous intersection,” Cassilly said in October 2025, when the project was completed. “I would like to thank everyone for their patience during the road closures and give special thanks to the DPW Highway Engineering team and our dedicated DPW crews for working so quickly to complete this project ahead of the busy holiday season.” ...read more read less