Often rendered impassable by a hard rain, the low-water ford on Little Beaver Creek Road in northern Warren County will soon be replaced by a bridge.

Warren Fiscal Court, meeting Friday in the county courthouse, approved the $363,709 bid of Stewart Richey Construction to build a bridge over Little Beaver Creek near the Edmonson County line.

The county is receiving $80,000 in emergency bridge funds from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the project, which county Public Works Director Josh Moore said could be completed before the end of the year.

About 50 feet in length, the bridge will alleviate problems that cropped up with every heavy rain.

“Those people in that end of the county have been waiting a long time for this,” Fifth District Magistrate Mark Young said.

Young said the road is used routinely by school buses and emergency vehicles but was often blocked after heavy rains.

“It’s also a major corridor for people traveling into Warren County from Edmonson County,” Young said. “Josh has done an outstanding job coordinating all the work that needed to be done to get the bridge approved.”

Moore said he worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Kentucky Division of Water and other agencies to get the necessary approval for a bridge he believes will fix the longstanding problems with the low-water ford.

“Any time we had a good rain we had water over that ford,” Moore said. “The pipes would get clogged with debris, and we’d have to fix that. This bridge will be elevated and should withstand those rain events.”

Also approved Friday was a resolution authorizing county Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon to apply to have 7.9 acres near the Interstate 65 exit 30 interchange transferred from the KYTC to Warren County.

The property, which was once used as the southbound rest stop on I-65, is intended for use as the northern “gateway” as part of Operation PRIDE’s “BeautifI-65” project to spruce up all five I-65 interchanges leading into Bowling Green.

Started by former Bowling Green Mayor Johnny Webb, “BeautifI-65” landscaping has been completed at exits 22, 26 and 28. Work on a southern “gateway” near exit 20 has started. The gateways will include stone walls with “Bowling Green” and “Warren County, Kentucky” spelled out on them along with lighting and other landscaping to catch the attention of travelers.

Buchanon doesn’t expect work on the exit 30 gateway to begin anytime soon because of the lengthy process of transferring the acreage from the state to the county.

“Unfortunately, this process takes months, not days, but we start with the application that we authorized this morning,” Buchanon said Friday. “This will be a beautiful gateway location.”

The magistrates on Friday also approved spending $60,800 for Miracle Recreation to replace a shelter at Romanza Johnson Park.

According to a document presented by county Parks and Recreation Director Chris Kummer, the existing shelter “has endured many flooding situations over the years and has begun to rot and deteriorate past the point of repair.”

The new structure will be made of steel, Kummer said in the document, and should not be easily damaged by flooding.

Other spending items approved:

• $1,500 to DC Elevator to repair an elevator at the Warren County Justice Center.
• $1,650 to McPeak Plumbing for locating a water leak and repairing a water fountain at Buchanon Park.
• $2,905.85 to Comfort Systems USA for repairing the air conditioning unit in the Phil Moore Park concession stand and office.
• $17,980 to Peel and Holland Insurance for the wellness contract for county employees.
• $1,710 to Miles Trailers for a replacement trailer at Basil Griffin Park.
• $11,514 to Scott, Murphy and Daniel for linking the security, internet and communications systems at the Buchanon Park gymnasium and indoor tennis facility.

The next Warren Fiscal Court meeting is scheduled at 9 a.m. Aug. 13.