Borst Avenue Redesign Open House Scheduled For Next Week

Posted

Members of the public with questions and concerns about the impending redesign of Borst Avenue in Centralia will have the chance to be heard next week.

Lewis County, the city of Centralia and SCJ Alliance will have representatives in attendance at the public event scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 18 at Centralia Middle School. Details are still being finalized, but the session will likely begin with a short update on the design and timeline of the project, which is slated for construction next year.

Plans still call for for a wide sidewalk to be constructed on the north side of Borst Avenue to provide pedestrians — many of whom are students attending the middle school or nearby Centralia High School — a safe place to walk or bicycle away from the flow of vehicle traffic.

A drainage median designed to catch and treat stormwater and vehicle runoff will separate the sidewalk from two lanes of traffic.

Centralia High students first raised safety concerns about the lack of sidewalks on the street in 2016, which led to the project receiving more than $3.7 million in state funds in November 2017. Many students walk to and from school along the road and reported feeling in danger of being hit by cars.

“While we were surveying the area, we had a lot of people asking questions,” Interim Lewis County Public Works Director Tim Fife said. “We’ve already had a number of hearings as far as how we’re going to design it, which side the path is going to be on and what it’s going to look like. Now that we’re getting down more to details, we wanted to give people an opportunity to weigh in before we finalize anything.”

Along with concerns about how the right-of-way easement afforded the city and county will affect their front yards and driveway access, residents of Borst Avenue have also raised concerns about how the project will impact the availability of on-street parking.



Following the opening remarks by leaders of the redesign, the open house will be broken up into as many as four stations designed for people who live on specific stretches of the road to find out more detailed information rather than the broad strokes of the entire scope.

“If you live in this block of the project or that one, there will be folks to talk about what’s going on and how things will work,” Centralia Public Works Director Kim Ashmore said. “Instead of looking at the whole project for a long period of time, people can see what’s going on in front of their house.”

While the public will have the chance to provide feedback on all aspects of the project, it’s unlikely that large-scale changes will be made to the plans at this point in the process.

Ashmore said that at this point, most people understand they’re not going to have a curb blocking their driveway, but that it’s important for everyone to be updated and remain on the same page as the process moves closer to being finalized and put out for bids.

Some aspects, such as what plants will be installed in the drainage median and other small details are still up for discussion, but people who want to see the sidewalk moved to the south side of the street are probably out of luck.

“If people have suggestions we can accommodate, we’re going to attempt to do that,” Fife said. “If we can’t, we’ll tell them why we’re doing what we’re doing. It’s kind of like an unveiling. We’re unveiling the design everyone agreed to build, and here’s your chance to ask questions about why we’re doing what we’re going to do. If we can accommodate a legitimate concern, we will.”