Recently, President Trump voiced his desire to see substantial improvements in infrastructure. Last year, Guthrie County Engineer Josh Sebern and the Secondary Roads Department completed a series of box culvert projects and other road and bridge repairs. One of the political bridges between Trump and the County is hopeful those projects will continue.

U.S. Congressman David Young is encouraged by the President’s priority on infrastructure, and hopes it will help rural Iowa specifically. “We’ve got some much needed repairs for our roads and bridges and railways (and) our levees, locks, and dams. We rely on these roads and bridges for safety. As well we need to make sure that all those great commodities that we produce in the Third District, we can get those to market. So that will also help improve our rural economies. Urban areas do have some needs, but rural Iowa, we’re just as important.”

Currently the County is progressing forward with replacing two wooden bridges near Panora. An increase in infrastructure funding could help the first project, which will mostly come from federal aid. The first project is a timber structure near the intersection of Viola and 210th Street. A concrete structure will replace that bridge at an estimated cost of $425,000. The second bridge, located on Viceroy Trail, will cost slightly less and will be funded entirely through Tax Increment Financing (TIF).