Cities that go in circles usually get nowhere.
A highway roundabout at the southeast edge of Bowling Green may be the oval that proves the theory wrong.
Construction of the five-spoke traffic junction continues, but it’s just one part of a much larger effort to create a better future in Pike County’s largest community.
“We’re extremely progressive,” said City Administrator J.D. Kehrman. “The sky’s the limit.”
“We’re excited for the opportunities that are developing,” said Chamber of Commerce President Corey Sanborn. “We think it’s an important growth factor for Bowling Green.
Big wheel
The roundabout should be finished on schedule late this summer.
The work won’t block access to nearby stores or close two-lane Business Highway 61, which feeds four-lane U.S. 61.
“It was important to take care of our existing businesses while the construction went on,” Kehrman said. “It was just the right thing to do.”
The city decided to put in the roundabout because it is experiencing growth at a time of economic malaise.
Wal-Mart is building a 100,000-square-foot Supercenter and Orscheln Farm & Home is putting in a 26,000-square-foot store. Both will be completed in the next three months.
The Wal-Mart is part of a $10 million, 34-acre development that will include other retailers. There also are restaurants, convenience stores, a hotel, a grocery and other businesses nearby.
A state survey shows 6,200 vehicles use the Business 61/U.S. 61 intersection each day, up from about 5,500 a decade ago.
Kehrman said the city is “counting on” another significant increase when the latest developments are done, and sees a day when Bowling Green competes with Hannibal and Troy for shoppers.
“Right now, people are going 30 miles north or 30 miles south,” Kehrman said. “I want to restore Pike County as a regional hub.”
The $3.5 million projected cost of the roundabout will be paid from part of the sales tax revenue generated by the Wal-Mart Supercenter, which will replace a smaller store in nearby Louisiana.
“We’re not going to pull the rug out from our existing sales tax to pay for the improvements,” Kehrman said. “It’s going to come from new revenues.”
Other progress
In the last few years, Bowling Green has lived up to the chamber’s motto of “Rising With the Future.”
The city has made major infrastructure improvements, added to its recreational attractions and offered incentives to lure new businesses.
In 2008, the city embarked on $11 million, 20-year improvement plan at its airport, and it recently got a grant to help with a cross-town walkway project.
The result of the progress has been an increase in home sales and a growth in the median household income since 2000.
And while Pike County’s unemployment remained above 9 percent in March, it was lower than the rate in all but one neighboring county.
Before 2009, the rate had not climbed higher than 5.7 percent since well before the turn of the century.
