Vehicles travel along Nashville Road past the intersection of Highland Way and Emmett Avenue on Jan 24.

Work on the project to widen Nashville Road in Bowling Green between Campbell Lane and the roundabout near University Boulevard is moving ahead with early utility work.

Wes Watt, public information officer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s District 3 office, told the Daily News KYTC is “still in the right-of-way” phase of the project, and some utility companies are rerouting lines in advance of the project.

Last Friday, the City of Bowling Green announced on Facebook that a stretch of Newman Way would be closed while utility work related to the project was completed.

“Some of the (utility companies) have started working because they’re working on other projects in the area, but they’re going ahead and getting their utilities moved where they’re supposed to be for (the widening),” Watt said. “They don’t want to have to come back to the same area and do something else when they can do it all at once.”

According to KYTC’s 2024 Highway Plan, which outlines statewide road improvements in the works between 2024 and 2030, the widening project has funding of over $4.8 million earmarked in 2027.

The project would widen 1.26 miles of Nashville Road from three lanes to four with a center turning lane.

An original plan consisted of a realignment of Highland Way to be done in conjunction with the Nashville Road project, rerouting the street to intersect with Emmett Avenue and creating a four-way stop.

This plan would have also included a development that would sit at the new intersection which would have created as many as 76 apartment units and possibly a convenience store with gas pumps. Both the development and the realignment projects were opposed by residents of the area, and the plans were ultimately scrapped in March.

Watt said KYTC is “getting toward the end” of right-of-way acquisition for the project, although the actual construction phase of the widening is still a ways away.

“Construction is not scheduled (yet),” Watt said. “Best case scenario, it would be spring of 2026, if not later.”

This is not the only section of Nashville Road with construction on the horizon. Plans are also in the works to widen the road between the Simpson County line and Buchanon Park, a length of 4.26 miles.

According to the highway plan, $4.29 million has been designated for utility work for the project in 2025, with $14.2 million set aside for construction in 2026.

“The 2026 funds are outside of the biennium, so that won’t be known until the next highway plan comes up,” Watt said. “It’s likely going to take longer for the construction to start than that, but it is in the highway plan, which is good news.”