Politics & Government
Metuchen Council President Wins County Award For Improving Pedestrians, Bike Safety
Jason Delia received the George Ververides Leadership Award for his work in making Metuchen safer for pedestrians and bikers.
METUCHEN, NJ — Borough Council President Jason Delia recently won a community leadership award from Middlesex County. Delia, an advocate for improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and micro-mobility, won the inaugural George Ververides Community Leadership Award for making safety improvements across the borough.
The George Ververides Community Leadership Award was established this year to mark the 35th anniversary of Keep Middlesex Moving (KMM).
The award honors the legacy of George Ververides, Middlesex County Director of Planning from 1968-2020 and KMM founding member. For 52 years, Ververides laid the foundation and oversaw the development of transportation, bicycle, and pedestrian safety infrastructure projects that impact county residents.
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On Wednesday, KMM announced Delia as the first recipient of the George Ververides award.
Since his election to Council in 2019, Delia has worked on improving mobility safety in Metuchen. He partnered with the County to reduce the speed limits on County roads frequently used by pedestrians.
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Delia also championed the NJ Safe Passing Law in 2021 and recently established a bike lane along Grove & Eggert Ave in the borough, which is expected to be implemented in Fall 2023.
“Given the incredible impact Mr. Ververides has had on Middlesex County, I am truly humbled to receive this award,” Delia told Patch in a statement.
“Now, I feel an even greater responsibility to uphold the values and principles of community service that Mr. Ververides embodied. I extend my sincere gratitude to Keep Middlesex Moving for this honor. On behalf of Metuchen, I am grateful for KMM’s support and partnership.”
Delia has also worked to make safety improvements along Main Street, namely adding curb bumpouts at numerous intersections, improving traffic signals, adding crossing signals, and creating a pedestrian interval phase at the busiest intersection downtown.
Metuchen will be installing its first bike lane later this year, a project which elia helped plan and to secure funding for.
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