Residents might notice activity happening in front of the Washington County Minibus facility in Washington.

Work has begun on a new building for the county-wide service, which is largely being funded by a $472,456 Public Transit Infrastructure Grant from the Iowa Transportation Commission. The service has been in its current building since 1975, and Minibus Transit Director Cris Gaughan describes some of the improvements for the new facility, “Our new building will be set right in front of the existing building and we will be ADA-compliant, so we will have handicap-accessible doors coming in. We will have two restrooms for the size of staff we have.”

The building will also include an enclosed dispatch area, offices for administrative staff, a larger break room/conference area, and storage and information technology closets, which they don’t already have. Gaughan says the old building will then be converted for bus storage with an overhead door on the east and west sides. Greiner Buildings is the contractor, and completion is anticipated for this April. Gaughan assures the public that the service is still operating as normal and they can still access the current building for any needs. For any questions, call (319)653-2853.