Warren County Fiscal Court magistrates on Thursday approved early action on a widening project set to take place along Three Springs Road by granting an easement to the Warren County Water District for property along the road.

The widening project itself will be handled by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and will widen a 1.3 mile stretch of the road to three lanes from Flea Land all the way to and including the bridge over Interstate 165.

Judge-Executive Doug Gorman told the Daily News the project has been “a couple years in the making,” and said the county will aid in “coordination” for the project.

“Anytime the state does something, if it’s in the city they work with the city, if it’s in the county they work with us,” Gorman said.

Gorman said easements like this and rights-of-way acquisition are the early steps in projects of this type, so a full timeline is not yet known. KYTC’s highway plan, which outlines road improvement projects across the state, lists $8.8 million in fiscal year 2025 for the project.

Also, wheels are turning on installing a storm shelter in the Hadley community in the northwestern portion of the county after magistrates voted unanimously to start the process for the structure at the Hadley Community Center.

Currently, the only storm-rated shelter in that area is inside the Hadley Volunteer Fire Department.

The Hadley VFD covers around 550 households in the area. Hadley VFD Chief Russell Justice told the Daily News the safe room at the department was originally intended for firefighters staying at the firehouse, but is now flocked to by residents during severe weather.

“I’ve had over 40 people at one time there in the fire department,” Justice said. “A lot of people (have) been asking me, ‘when are we going to get a safe room,’ I said ‘well, we’re going to try to get one here.’ ”

Since Bowling Green and Warren County were struck in December 2021 by several tornadoes, and because severe weather events are becoming more frequent in this part of the country, the county and the City of Bowling Green alike have invested in public storm shelters.

Shelters now dot parks and public spaces across the community. Eight of them are spread across Warren County parks and the city is installing shelters at various locations as well.

Ronnie Pearson, head of Warren County Emergency Management, told the Daily News that each time a disaster strikes, funding is set aside for projects that make communities less susceptible to disaster.

“The Hadley Community Center approached us that they would like to have one up there,” Pearson said. “This is step one.”

He said a “pre-application” will be sent to FEMA and the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management. If approved after a review process, a full application will be sent to the county.

If a grant application is made available, Pearson said it would likely be worth between $400,000 and $450,000, an amount that would cover all expenses with the shelter.

“These are not cheap, because of the spec they’re built to,” he said.

The process is slow. Pearson said for reference, the grant that allowed the county to purchase a building near the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport for the new emergency operations center was applied for in 2023.

“That grant was submitted in late ‘23, and we’re not building yet,” he said. “That’s the length of time it takes.”

Fiscal court will meet again Friday, May 23.