Washington County approves five-year road plan

Washington County Supervisors approved a five-year road plan at a meeting on Tuesday.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius, who proposed the plan, said they would cost nearly double the currently available funds, likely necessitating outside aid.

“The plan contains over $20 million worth of construction, but unfortunately only about $11.7 million is estimated to be available,” he said. “That, to me, shows a need to those that provide funding for us, the DOT and the federal government. It’s a realistic need, it shows if the money were there, we would do those projects, and actually we would do more.”

The money breaks down into 12 structure projects (totaling $11.6 million,) nine pavement projects (over $4 million,) and 11 focused on grading and stabilization ($4.5 million,) according to Thorius, but he stressed that plans could change.

“It’s kind of a living, breathing document, it’s never really set in stone” Thorius said. “The only thing that’s set in stone is the first year, the current year. We’re working toward finalizing everything, and we can’t really make changes. We can make some, but not a whole lot.”

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