Supervisors OK updated 5-year road plan

At Tuesday's meeting, the Washington County Board of Supervisors approved an updated five-year road plan for the county.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius said the plan update is something that is done each year.

'This is something we have to do every year,” Thorius said. 'It's a living, breathing document, and it's always changing.”

He said that it is necessary to have a five-year plan in order to show the county's needs to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

It is also a funding issue, he added, saying that it often takes a long time to secure funds for a particular project.

'We probably have twice as much on the plan than funds,” Thorius said. 'As things change, we move stuff around.”

One project in the near future was changed on the plan.

Thorius said that the project for the bridge on Elm Avenue northwest of West Chester has been changed from a replacement project to a rehabilitation project.

Another project, the replacement of a box culvert on 128th Place, just north of Highway 22 and about a mile west of Wellman, was added to the plan.

'That wasn't even on our five-year plan,” Thorius said. 'We'll let out that project next month.”

Thorius also told the board that grant money from the state is available for the county's road signs.

'There is grant money available from the DOT to keep the signs at a certain brightness,” he said.

The grant is up to $10,000.