Help is on the way for sizable sections of three of Warren County’s busiest rural roadways.

Warren Fiscal Court on Thursday approved the Rural Secondary Road Program allotment of $2,085,326 submitted by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 officials for improving secondary state routes deemed most in need.

Warren County’s allotment for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which includes $211,717 carried over from 2022-23, will go toward these projects:

•$584,624 for resurfacing and improving a 4.396-mile section of Claypool-Boyce Road (Ky. 961) beginning at the intersection with New Cut Road and extending to Ky. 234.

•$285,234 for resurfacing and repairing a 2.416-mile section of Ky. 626 (Highland Church Road) from the intersection with U.S. 231 to the intersection with Ky. 1435.

•$259,927 for resurfacing and repairing a two-mile stretch of Ky. 526 (Mt. Olivet Road) from the intersection with Ky. 185 and continuing to the two-mile marker.

The allocation also includes $281,041 in “flex funds” that the county road department will use later for improvements to county-maintained roads.

In a growing county where many state routes and county roads are taking more wear with increased traffic, the funding is welcome, said Warren County Public Works Director Josh Moore.

“The state does a good job of setting priorities for road improvements,” Moore said. “We feel good about the ones they chose this year.”

Sixth District Magistrate Ron Cummings liked the choices as well, particularly the upcoming improvements to Claypool-Boyce Road.

“That will be a major help,” Cummings said. “Resurfacing 4.3 miles of that road and adding a shoulder will help a lot. That road has a lot of traffic on it and a lot of people live out there.”

Cummings and Moore said the six fiscal court magistrates and the public works staff will set priorities for how best to spend the flex funds that do come with some restrictions.

“When we’re looking at our paving schedule, we’ll try to determine how best to use those funds,” Moore said. “There are some guidelines we have to follow. Typically, the roads have to connect to a state highway.”

In other action at Thursday’s meeting, the magistrates voted to honor the contributions of the county’s first parks director, Jesse Thornton, by naming the lake at Basil Griffin Park the Jesse Thornton Lake.

“In the 1960s, he (Thornton) was the county’s first full-time parks director,” said First District Magistrate Scott Lasley. “His contributions were significant in building what we have today.”

Lasley and County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman said a formal ceremony will be held in June to name the lake in honor of Thornton.

The magistrates on Thursday also approved an expenditure expected to help county and city of Bowling Green leaders plan for the future.

In a unanimous vote, the magistrates approved spending $12,500 for consultant Sam Ford to conduct a one-day civic imagination workshop and develop a report that city and county leaders will use to drive strategic planning.

Gorman said such a workshop is needed to help the city and county prepare for continued growth.

According to a report by the Kentucky State Data Center, Warren County is predicted to add 74,743 residents from 2020 to 2050, reaching 209,297 residents and surpassing both Kenton and Boone counties to become the state’s third-most populous county.

“We have unprecedented growth coming,” Gorman said. “We want to convene local leaders to work on how to address that.”

According to the proposal submitted by Ford, the workshop will have 25 to 40 participants who will “generate creative and pragmatic insights on the future of Bowling Green with an eye toward building a shared narrative, vision and possible paths forward.”

Ford, executive director of the AccelerateKY nonprofit that focuses on tapping into the potential of Kentucky’s innovators and entrepreneurs, helped organize a 2018 civic assembly in Bowling Green that gave local residents an opportunity to weigh in on a number of issues.

The next meeting of Warren Fiscal Court is scheduled for Thursday, May 25 at 9 a.m. A veterans brick-laying ceremony will be held that day at 8 a.m. in the Veterans Memorial courtyard on the grounds of the county courthouse.