Bowling Green · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Bowling Green public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
Capital projects pipeline 2026-2031
Brian O'Connell updated council on major utility work: pump stations, the Wallace Avenue water/sewer replacement, wastewater clarifiers, and electric circuit and substation projects across the city.
North Main Street shared-use path
Council used its emergency power to start appropriating Bentwood Estates property for the Crim Shared Use Path after negotiations failed, keeping the trail project on schedule.
Sidewalk and pedestrian infrastructure program
Council adopted an emergency ordinance for sidewalk repairs paid through special assessments on benefiting properties.
Process for on-street parking removal requests
The commission decided that even when the city itself requests parking restrictions, residents should get advance letters and a chance to weigh in, keeping the transparency practice used for citizen petitions.
Street cleaning special assessment
The annual street cleaning assessment ordinance was adopted — property owners in assessed areas pay for street sweeping.
South Main Street repaving
Some sections of the new South Main paving failed air-void testing and popped potholes over the winter freeze. The contractor will mill and repave the bad sections starting next week at no cost to the city.
Access management policy overhaul (first since 2007)
The city's rules for driveways, signals, turn lanes and development traffic reviews are getting their first rewrite in 19 years, aligned with new ODOT standards. It adds roundabout consideration, bike/ped path requirements for developers, and a clearer appeals process — shaping how every new development connects to city streets.
Shared-use path on North Main Street
An emergency ordinance authorizes design, engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction contracts for a shared-use path on North Main from Poe Road to Nims Road.
Brim Road shared-use path construction begins in June
A long-discussed path linking the high school and several neighborhoods to Cogan's Crossing starts right after school lets out and should wrap by end of September.
$1 million residential paving program after July 4
Buttonwood, Grove, Rudolph, Ordway and Adams streets get repaved this summer in a roughly million-dollar project starting after the Fourth of July.
ODOT project consent (Resolution 3905)
A routine resolution letting the Municipal Administrator sign off on Ohio Department of Transportation paperwork for Project ID No. 114710.
Coleman Avenue vacation
The city is moving to vacate part of Coleman Avenue while keeping a utility easement; residents can comment at an April 6 public hearing.
Coleman Avenue street vacation
Neighbors petitioned to vacate a dead-end, never-paved chunk of Coleman Avenue north of Birch Street. The city has no plans to build the street, so the land would revert to adjacent owners, with a utility easement staying in place.
S-Know BG winter dashboard launch
The city built an in-house dashboard showing GPS-tracked plow routes, snow emergency alerts, live corridor cameras, road temperature sensors, and a way to request services. Residents can finally see whether their street has been plowed. Public Works also uses the data internally to target salt, brine and plowing.