By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green motorists have recently been experiencing road closed rage.
Drivers trying to maneuver city streets have found their routes closed for construction – creating delays in travel, inconvenient detours, and frustration behind the wheel.
Last year, several local residents registered their displeasure with the increasingly rough roadways on Pearl Street and Sand Ridge Road. But this summer when three major east-west roads – both Pearl and Sand Ridge, plus Gypsy Lane Road – were closed for repaving at the same time, drivers were vexed.
“They really need to do all these at the same time?” one reader wrote.
“So basically you can’t get there from here,” another said.
It reportedly took 18 minutes for one driver to get down Gypsy Lane Road, from Main Street to Sand Ridge Road.
“Maybe BG can manage to block every road in town at the same time with a little help from the cable company work crews,” another resident said in jest.
When the city announced this week that another major road project would shut down South Main Street starting Monday, June 24, some motorists were ready to lay on the horn.
But there is an “open” sign at the end of the roadway.
Pearl Street has been open for a few days and by Saturday, both Sand Ridge Road and Gypsy Lane Road will be open for business, according to City Communication Director Amanda Gamby.
City officials did not intend for so much construction to be underway at once, Gamby said. But there are some factors the city has no control over, such as:
- The American Rescue Plan Act funds used to pay for the milling and repaving of Sand Ridge Road and Gypsy Lane Road are required to be used by the end of 2024. If not used, the funds would have to be returned to the federal government.
- The city is at the mercy of the contractors hired for the work. “We’re juggling three contractors,” Gamby said. When they finish jobs in other communities, Bowling Green has to say OK for street work here, or they go to the next community. When they would return to BG is anybody’s guess, Gamby said.
- Asphalt companies only produce the road surfacing material in warmer months. “We have a real tight window in the summertime” to get all the roadwork done, Gamby said.
- Weather can be an issue with some projects. But crews battled through the hot temperatures to get them done. “The heat has been atrocious, but it has not delayed them at all,” Gamby said.
- Sometimes the unknowns underground can complicate projects. For example, several feet of rock delayed the utility work and paving in the 100 block of Pearl Street.
Gamby acknowledged that closure of the three east-west roads was inconvenient for drivers – but not impossible.
“We encourage folks to search out alternative routes,” she said.
Gamby cautioned that the South Main Street project starting next week is bound to exasperate even the most patient motorists.
It will be a “beast” that will stretch into 2025, she warned.
The project will begin with the replacement of water lines along South Main Street from Ordway Avenue to Gypsy Lane Road.
The work area will be divided into zones to minimize impact. Both northbound lanes, along with the center turn lane, will be closed within the work area with both lanes of travel shifting to the southbound lanes.
Access to businesses will be maintained throughout the duration of the project. Additional intermittent closures at intersections will be necessary as work progresses.
Water line improvement work will be completed this year, with paving along South Main Street, from Ordway to the southern corporation line, to follow in 2025.
This project also includes ADA ramp improvements, a separated shared use path along the west side of South Main (from Gypsy Lane to Napoleon Road), traffic signal replacement and road widening at the South Main/Napoleon Road intersection, and the installation of two pedestrian hybrid beacons between Gypsy Lane and Napoleon roads.
“We’re obviously asking for patience” and for drivers to slow down in work zones, Gamby said.
Residents wanting information on all the city’s infrastructure projects can find details on the city’s website, by first going to the “residents” link then clicking on the capital projects map tab.
