Building a New Borst Avenue

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Anyone with lingering nostalgia for the potholes and pedestrian issues that have plagued Borst Avenue for decades had better get their final fix this weekend.

The long-anticipated overhaul of the street that runs between Centralia Middle School and Centralia High School will begin in earnest on Monday. Work crews have been staging equipment and materials along the road this week in preparation for a project that will move the two traffic lanes to the south to make room for a pedestrian pathway and an improved drainage system.

Thursday, about two dozen stakeholders from Centralia and Lewis County gathered at the corner of Borst Avenue and Scheuber Road, where Borst Avenue crosses over the city boundary line into the county, for a ceremonial groundbreaking. Representatives from the Lewis County Board of Commissioners, Centralia City Council and Centralia School District grabbed golden shovels to move sand placed in the intersection for the occasion.

“It’s a combination of everyone working together, and in today’s society, if we don’t all work together, we don’t get things done,” said Centralia Mayor Lee Coumbs. “It is also a project to fix mistakes that have been made … this is what happens 40 years later to rectify something that involves the pride of our community.”

Coumbs was referencing the lack of sidewalks, curbing and other common aspects of public street construction that were not standardized when Borst Avenue was first constructed. The mayor also pointed out that every infrastructure project comes with detractors, no matter the level of public excitement.

A car with handmade signs calling the Borst Avenue redesign a scam sat on the side of the road behind the mayor and other speakers during the groundbreaking. The signs did not further specify the owner’s complaint, but Coumbs acknowledged the rights an individual has to protest in public.



From a financial perspective, the multi-million dollar effort is anything but a scam for both the city and county. The majority of the $3.2 million contract awarded by the BOCC last month to Kelso-based C&R Tractor and Landscaping will be paid for by a grant awarded in 2017 by the state Transportation Improvement Board. Centralia will contribute $700,000 and Lewis County will pitch in $500,000.

“Getting the TIB money is what made it start to feel real,” said Kim Ashmore, public works director for the City of Centralia. “That kids started working on this in 2016 and the fact it’s now 2019 may seem like forever, but the process of everything from us having to budget for it to the planning and permitting, it’s been pretty smooth. Our job now is to get it done on time and on budget to improve this road.”

Students from Centralia High School, many of whom walk along Borst Avenue on their way to school each morning, began pushing for improvements to the road on the basis of ensuring the safety of pedestrians and vehicles alike.

Though the students who took the lead on those efforts have since graduated, their presence was still felt at the groundbreaking. One former student, Kennedy Woods, spoke during the ceremony, while school board member Lori Fast held a cutout of her daughter Morgan Fast, who served as CHS student body president in 2016.

“We’re all so excited to see this finally happen,” Lori Fast said. “Thank you all for your support in making this happen.”