Betty Lou Smith cut the ribbon for a $14 million expansion of Lovers Lane within sight of her family’s home and farm.

Smith, a longtime resident of what used to be known as “thrill road,” shared a little history of the road’s development at the dedication Tuesday of its recent expansion. She and others gathered for a ribbon cutting in front of Lovers Lane Soccer Complex.

Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Corbin, owned what used to be a large farm that stretched across where Interstate 65 is now. There were just five farms on the one-lane gravel road at the time.

“It was full of hills and valleys,” Smith said. “And the kids loved to ride on it like a roller coaster.”

After the road became a two-lane paved road in the 1960s, it was still a favorite of kids who liked to drag race and for lovers who liked to “park” along the road, often blocking the Smiths from entering their property late at night.

Now it’s a five-lane road with gutters and sidewalks and a shared-use path part of the way.

State Sen. Mike Reynolds, D-Bowling Green, also recalled the lovers history of the road – one of his brothers slipped out of their home off Lapsley Lane to court his now wife, who lived off the road.

Reynolds, Smith and a host of other officials touted the new five-lane road as a success for a community that worked together to see its completion.

Smith said the finished product is worth it, even considering the multiple phone calls and questions, including how many more times her fence would be moved, that she asked of contractors during its construction.

“We really are thrilled with the road and lucky to see its aesthetics,” Smith said. “Plus every morning, I see mothers with their strollers using the paths.”

The aesthetics include a stretch of underground utilities, thanks to a public-private partnership, and overhead utilities that were moved well off the road.

Later, Smith said her grown son recently bought a bike so he could use the path a couple of times a week, and her visiting daughter walks each morning on the multi-use path from the Smiths’ home to Crossroads IGA, near where a country store stood years ago.

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, said when he got to Frankfort as a state senator, he knew there were three issues in Bowling Green.

“Traffic, traffic and traffic,” he said.

That’s why Guthrie was pleased to be chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee with the opportunity to work on such projects as the Lovers Lane expansion for Warren County.

“This completes the inner circle for the city that will help traffic move internally,” he said.

The loop encompasses Lovers Lane, Cemetery Road, the new Seventh Avenue to Veterans Memorial Boulevard to Campbell Lane.

“The project was paid for with taxpayers’ money … and I think everyone will see that it was put to good use,” Guthrie said.

Mayor Elaine Walker, Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green and Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon all touted the benefits of the road, which chiefly include relieving traffic on Scottsville Road.

“This new road makes a less stressful and much safer commute for my family and thousands of others each day,” Buchanon said.