By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher wants to spread $3 million across the city on residential street paving projects.
He presented a plan to City Council on Monday evening, of how to use a portion of the $7 million projected to come to BG in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“A fundamental expectation of local government, in my view, is repair and maintenance of the city’s roads,” Aspacher said.
The mayor pointed out that the city has recently leveraged funding partnerships to make significant improvements to major corridors and intersections, such as North Main Street, the downtown, and the Interstate-75 corridor.
Upcoming partner projects include work on East and West Wooster streets, South Main Street, Wooster and Campbell Hill Road, and Campbell Hill Road and Napoleon Road.
“While these are roads with heavy volumes of traffic, we recognize that our citizens traverse the city on a network of what we consider residential roads,” Aspacher said.
Due to traffic volumes, many of these roads have a considerable lifespan, he said.
“However, no paving project is indefinite and I have long been concerned that the city has not been able to devote adequate resources to residential paving,” he said. “Delaying these projects will result in a build up of projects, and eventually to poor road conditions that will require even more extensive repair.”
The city added several residential subdivisions in the 1980s and 1990s, some which have never seen their streets resurfaced, the mayor added.
So Aspacher proposed using $3 million of COVID rescue money to fund a three-year residential paving program.
To select which streets to include, a pavement rating index was used. This rating identifies residential roads that are in the worst condition, measures traffic volume, and considers street proximities so projects can be pieced together to make attractive paving projects for contractors.
The $3 million would pay for an estimated 30 lane miles of streets, and would include improvements to ADA ramps and curb replacements as needed.
Aspacher said he plans to bring legislation to City Council for first reading on Oct. 18. Acting on the projects soon will allow the city to be among the first communities to hire a contractor to begin work as soon as weather allows in 2022, he said.
Suggested road projects for 2022 include:
- Clough Street from South Main to South College.
- Clough Street from Mercer to Campbell Hill.
- Lehman Avenue from South Main to Manville.
- South Summit from Palmer to Wooster.
- North Enterprise from Wooster to Poe.
- Frazee Avenue from North Main to North Enterprise.
- Leroy Street from North Main to North Enterprise.
- Ridge Street from North Enterprise to Thurstin.
- Pike Street from North Enterprise to Thurstin.
- South Enterprise from Lehman to Wooster.
- North Prospect from Wooster to Poe.
- West Evers from Grove to Main.
- East Reed from Prospect to Enterprise.
- North Mitchell Road from Poe to West Wooster.
- North Mitchell Road from Poe to the north corporation line.
- South Mitchell Road from West Wooster to Sand Ridge.
- West Reed Street from Main to Grove.
Possible road projects for 2023 include:
- Finch Street from Wren to Oriole.
- Wren Road from Finch to Ohio 64.
- Swallow Road from Wren to the end.
- Oriole Street from Finch to Wren.
- Warbler Court from the cul-de-sac to Cardinal.
- Cardinal Street from Finch to Oriole.
- Martin Street from Cardinal to Wren.
- Teal Trail from Finch to Cardinal.
- Lafayette Avenue from Conneaut to Finch.
- Oakwood Court from the cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Rosewood Court from the cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Dogwood Court from cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Beech Street from Conneaut to Rosewood Drive.
- Aspen Lane from Rosewood Drive to Cedar.
- Ashwood Lane from Cedar to the end.
- Hickory Court from Cedar to the cul-de-sac.
- Cedar Lane from Conneaut to Rosewood Drive.
- Rosewood Drive from Cedar Lane to south of Margaretha.
- South Orleans from Aspen Lane to Lafayette.
- Garden Court from Wallace to the end.
- Wallace Avenue from Garden to the west end.
- Vine Street from Wallace to the south end.
- Parker Street from Haskins Road to the west end.
- Lambert from Vine to the west end.
- Fairview Avenue from Poe to Van Camp.
- Devonshire Street from Conneaut to the cul-de-sac.
- Tamarac Lane from Conneaut to Devonshire.
- Kensington Boulevard from Devonshire to the butt joint.
- Cobblestone Drive from Devonshire to the cul-de-sac.
- Somerset Street from Cobblestone to the south end.
Potential road projects for 2024 include:
- Pearl Street from Wintergarden to Church Street.
- Sand Ridge Road from Wintergarden to Maple Street.
- West Gypsy Lane from Sand Ridge to west of South Main.
- East Napoleon Road, from Interstate 75 to Dunbridge Road.
- East Gypsy Lane from I-75 to Dunbridge Road.
- South College Avenue from East Wooster to Napoleon Road.
The mayor also listed a few other projects in the city that could be potentially funded by the ARPA funds. Those include:
- Paving City Park Drive with a side-use path.
- Installing all or a portion of the side-use path from the Community Center to the high school and Cogan’s Crossing.
- Study the impact of changing the downtown right-of-way to allow for an expanded use of the sidewalks outside of stores and restaurants.
In other business at Monday’s City Council meeting:
- Ryan Tackett was officially sworn in to his promoted rank of lieutenant in the Bowling Green Police Division.
- Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter reported that the city has set Oct. 31, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. as trick or treat.
- Police Chief Tony Hetrick talked about the upcoming Citizen Outreach Program on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. The program will bring together citizens and officers, and allow citizens to learn about police operations and training.
- Parks and Recreation Director Kristin Otley said the annual park foundation fundraiser has been renamed Party for the Parks, and will be held Nov. 5, starting at 7 p.m., in the Veterans Building in City Park.
- Public Infrastructure Director Brian O’Connell reported on the pollinators’ habitat at the city’s solar field east of Bowling Green. He said Cinda Stutzman, natural resources specialist with Bowling Green City Parks, told him to be patient, that it would take about three years for the habitat to fill in. “She’s right. It’s gotten where it needs to be,” O’Connell said.
