By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When the Wood County Commissioners first began talking about moving the county engineer’s office and highway garage in 2017, the estimated price tag was $20 million. Now, the post-COVID estimate is close to $40 million.
But the county garage has outgrown its space, and the aging buildings need a great deal of maintenance, according to the commissioners.
When constructed at 600 E. Poe Road more than 60 years ago, the county highway garage was on a remote edge of Bowling Green. But over the decades, the open space around the highway garage has been gobbled up for other uses – apartments, businesses and the university. So there is no land left at the current site for expansion.
With the help of $1 million awarded by the state earlier this year, an engineering study will be conducted in 2025 to look at the needs of the county garage and determine the best site for a new facility.
The county engineer’s highway garage and salt storage structure, located at the corner of East Poe Road and Thurstin Avenue, need a lot of maintenance and are tight on space, according to Wood County Commissioner Craig LaHote.
“How much money do we want to put in it?” LaHote said.
The county has one large section of land left at its East Gypsy Lane Complex, on the south side of the road. The acreage is located between Interstate 75 and the Wood County Health Department.
The engineering study will look at the options of moving just the highway garage and salt storage to a new location – or also moving the county engineer’s office from the county courthouse complex to the new site as well.
The East Gypsy Lane Road location would offer more acreage and easier access to U.S. 6 and rural roads that the county engineer’s office maintains. The complex there already has a fuel facility.
The move would also allow the county to sell the land currently used for the highway garage – which should be desirable property on the north side of BGSU.
Both Bowling Green State University and the City of Bowling Green have expressed some interest in the acreage currently used for the county highway department on East Poe Road.
