Spring is in the air and new pavement and gravel are being placed on the roads. Washington County is starting off the spring season with various road projects beginning soon. Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius (Tor-E-Us) knows the list of road maintenance projects is long, but he asks citizens to be patient,, “It’s time consuming to do it and the conditions are right. Dealing with people’s expectations. People want a good road all the time which I don’t blame them. I want a good road all the time but I drive on them whether it’s a county road, city road or state road. I want them to be good, but we’ve only got so much to go around dollar-wise and we’ve got to spread that out around the county. We’re working what we can to address the roads that we feel are the worst out of the big picture of the entire county which is 660 miles of gravel road and about 160 miles of paved road.” Some of the upcoming road projects around Washington County include a bridge replacement on Birch Avenue and grading work from Highway 22 near Keokuk County, which will be a joint project between Washington and Keokuk counties.