BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green could see millions of dollars worth of improvements to residential streets starting as early as next year.
The city would like to use federal funding to work on streets that have gone without maintenance for what they say is way too long. Bowling Green will be getting just over $7 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, and they have already received the first half payment.
Which is why the city administration has proposed using up to $3 million of these funds to repave side streets that are in need of improvements.
"A lot of work has happened on North Main Street, East Wooster Street," Mayor Mike Aspacher said. "We've got some plans to pave South Main Street and also West Wooster Street. But where we've fallen behind a little bit is in our residential neighborhoods, so this is really an unprecedented opportunity."
On average, the city is only able to afford the repaving of 4.3 lane miles a year.
"Our plan of utilizing a percentage of our ARPA funds would result in us paving, over the course of the next three years, over 30 lane miles," Aspacher said.
If approved, a lot of the work that would take place in 2022 would be the neighborhood between Poe Road and Wooster Street, east of Main. That includes Reed Street, which has been evaluated to have one of of the worst pavement conditions in the city.
The roads in question were cross examined with upcoming below asphalt projects to optimize the upgrades.
Along with fresh pavement, the city will also be upgrading curbs and ramps to be ADA compliant.
And because these roads see less use than the main thoroughfares, these improvements should last quite a while.
"Mill and fill repaving will give us really great value for the investment, and those streets should not need to be repaved again for likely 20 years or more," Aspacher said.
Bowing Green City Council will hold their third reading of the proposal at their next meeting in two weeks, and could hold a vote on the proposal as well.