INDEPENDENCE — Builders and residents are bracing for the Tristate's next large land rush, expected to kick off this fall once construction is completed on a $20 million expansion of Ky. 17.

        The project will open thousands of acres of undeveloped land in southern Kenton County, three miles south of Interstate 275 and smack in the middle of some of the fastest-growing pockets of Greater Cincinnati.

        Experts predict that converting Ky. 17 from a winding two-lane country road to a more modern four-lane highway will continue a Tristate construction trend: Open a highway and development will boom.

        “The people out here have no idea what will happen once that new road opens,” said Jim Yowler, a restaurant operator and chef hired to open the Courthouse Restaurant in Independence.

        He knows what he's talking about. For 25 years, he has visited friends and relatives in Butler County's West Chester Township. And for 11 years, he has been a resident of the township just north of Interstate 275.

        In 1990, he recalls, “There were still cattle grazing all over West Chester.”

        Not today. Suburban sprawl has transformed fields and farms into strip malls, subdivisions and fast-food restaurants. The growth has been fueled by numerous road improvements, such as the Union Centre Boulevard interchange off Interstate 75, and Tylersville and Cincinnati-Dayton roads.

        Similar spurts have occurred in Mason and Deerfield Township in southern Warren County, as well as in Clermont County's Union Township.

        When county and state officials invest millions in new roads, developers jump on prime real estate.

        “For years I watched new roads open in and around West Chester, and the development and people just kept coming,” Mr. Yowler said. “That's just what is going to happen here. I just don't think people realize that yet.”
       

Preparing for the boom
        Some along the four-mile path of the expanded Ky. 17, particularly those living and working in Independence, are certain change is coming.

        Independence's population has soared by 44 percent, to 14,982, in 10 years, according to the 2000 Census.

        Ky. 17, residents say, will mean even more people and businesses.

        “It used to be that when you looked around here all you saw was farms,” said Jill Bright, who lives on Pelly Road. “Now, it's all subdivisions. With this new road, we're going to see even more houses and construction.”

        The new Ky. 17 cuts into the rolling hills of Independence like a lawn mower cutting a path through heavy weeds. The nearly completed road, now mostly paved, ascends from near Hands Pike, where the Pleasure Isle public swimming pool once stood, and across a new 75-foot-high bridge over Fowler Creek.

        It eventually ties into Pelly Road near Summit View Elementary School. It's just north of Independence's main business district.

        Ky. 17, Independence City Administrator Mark Wendling said, will be “the most significant change in the history of the city.”

        “It's going to open up a part of the city that has never really been accessible before ... and make this area even more attractive for corporations and developers.

        “We've seen a lot of growth in the past,” Mr. Wendling said. “But we know it will be nothing compared to what will happen after that road opens up.”
       

Safety attracts residents
        The new route replaces a winding road that authorities say can be dangerous and difficult to travel. Its safety might be another reason for people to call southern Kenton County home, said Jeff Erpenbeck, president of the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky.

        “It's going to make it a lot easier for people to get back and forth,” said Mr. Erpenbeck, a partner with his brother Bill in Erpenbeck Co. home builders.

        Independence Police Chief Shawn Butler said the existing two-lane road can be difficult and even dangerous to drive. Heavy congestion, rain, snow, slow-moving vehicles and curves often make it a challenge, he said.

        “We know the new road is going to bring a lot more traffic overall to the city, and we're getting ready for that,” Chief Butler said. “But the existing road just can't handle all the traffic we have out here now. It needs to be replaced.”

        In anticipation of the growth, Kenton County Judge-executive Dick Murgatroyd has formed a task force to study the public service needs of the county's southern end.

        “We are trying hard to work with the fire and police departments in the southern end of the county to . . . keep an orderly approach to the growth out there,” Mr. Murgatroyd said.
       

Planning for growth
        That strategy — ensuring growth happens in an organized way — has been embraced by communities in Butler, Clermont and Warren counties. Leaders in those communities offer strong advice to Northern Kentucky officials: Don't let development run amok.

        “It's key to have the roads to entice the development and the roads to manage the traffic that comes with the growth,” said Judi Carter, West Chester's assistant township administrator. “That's something the township trustees here have worked hard on doing. When you plan for the growth, it's much easier to handle.”

        West Chester Township's population jumped 38.3 percent over the past decade, to 54,895, from 39,703 in 1990. It has become Ohio's third-largest township.

        Because of road improvements, Liz Claiborne Co. in March announced it would build a $55 million distribution center.

        In Clermont County, rebuilt Bach-Buxton Road was a magnet for development.

        Two years ago, Brian Eliff, Union Township's planning and zoning director, described Bach-Buxton “as a typical, substandard township road, too narrow, not enough pavement and basically hard to get through.”

        After Union Township improved the road, industrial and office development sprouted. Among the new arrivals were Midland Co., an insurance company that moved its headquarters from downtown Cincinnati to Clermont's Union Township.

        Now, Bach-Buxton connects two other fast-growing corridors, Ohio 125 and Ohio 32.

        “The new road brought us new development,” Mr. Eliff said. “I think as long as you build and improve roads in this area ... you're going to attract new growth.”

        In Warren County, road improvements designed to handle existing growth ended up attracting even more development, said Karen Garrett, the county's executive director.

        Mason-Montgomery Road, an east-west corridor that connects with Interstate 71, has been widened and improved several times in the past 10 years to meet the increased traffic and development. Most of that was triggered by Procter & Gamble, which built a sprawling research facility on the road.

        But millions spent in road improvements attracted more restaurants, stores and offices, Ms. Garrett said.

        Mason's population grew by an astounding 96 percent, to 22,916, between 1990 and 2000, while Warren County's population jumped 39 percent, to 158,383.

        “In a way, after you do a big road project you're kind of back where you were in the first place,” Ms. Garrett said. “That's what we found on Mason-Montgomery Road.”

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