The Washington County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract for a grading and surfacing project during Tuesday’s meeting.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius presented three bids that were received for work on 230th Street from Highway 1 to a quarter mile west of Lexington Boulevard. The supervisors approved Thorius’ recommendation of the lowest bid of about $227,102 from DeLong Construction, which was a couple thousand dollars more than his estimate. He also mentioned during the meeting how recent precipitation and cold temperatures are impacting county roads, “If you’ve been out on the gravel roads, they’re in poor shape and we are aware of that. A lot of the roads that are in poor shape are the ones that are heavily traveled or are in the rotation of needing to be rocked. We’re doing what we can but if everybody can get Mother Nature to stop raining and dry out for a week that would really help.”

The supervisors also approved the fiscal year 2023 five year road plan and budget for the Iowa Department of Transportation as required annually. Thorius mentioned the five-year plan includes over $20 million in construction with only $11.7 million in funds available, including 12 structures at a cost of $11.6 million, nine pavement projects for about $4 million, and 11 grading and stabilization projects for about $4.5 million.