Centralia School District, Local Officials Plan Workaround For Middle School Traffic During Borst Closure

Parents who chauffeur their children to Centralia Middle School each morning will be subject to some vehicular gymnastics in the coming months. 

In light of news that the re-build of Centralia’s Borst Avenue will not be completed in time for the start of the 2019/2020 school year, the Centralia School District is making contingency plans for students who attend its middle and high schools — both along the affected route. 

The project, which started in June, which is now expected to last until November.

Middle School students must be picked up or dropped off in front of the middle school along Johnson Road. Cars will travel southbound down Johnson to Pioneer Way and follow it west to the intersection of Mount Vista Road and Allen Avenue. Traffic will be able to flow north on Allen Avenue back to Borst Avenue, which will be passable back to Johnson Road.

Cars heading to Centralia High School will have the option of continuing down Mount Vista Road to Eshom Road. The high school can also be reached by accessing Eshom Road from any of the cross streets north of Borst Avenue, such as Russell Road, Fords Prairie Avenue and Galvin Road.

“We want to encourage parents and other people driving to school to use those routes on the north side and leave Mount Vista alone, if possible,” said Kim Ashmore, City of Centralia Public Works Director and member of the Centralia School District Board of Directors. “We know some people will still use it, we’ll still have bus traffic there. Borst will still be open somewhat for local traffic like it is pretty much every day, but we want people to understand it’s a construction zone and there are alternate routes, so please use them when they can.”

Centralia School District plans to send notices to affected families to make sure that everyone is up to speed and has time to plan ahead before classes start Sept. 4. Representatives from the school district, the City of Centralia, Lewis County and local engineering firm SCJ Alliance met last week to come up with the traffic plan, according to Ashmore.

The $3.2 million project is designed to improve pedestrian safety and drainage along the road between the middle school and the high school. Kelso-based C&R Tractor and Landscaping is tasked with repositioning the two vehicle lanes southward in order to create room for a lighted multi-use pathway and drainage system. Residents of the area have long clamored for changes to Borst Avenue, citing the danger faced by students who must walk through mud and water next to the roadway in order to get to class.

Ed Petersen, public relations and communications director for the school district, told the Centralia City Council last week that measures will be taken to ensure safe passage for students who would normally walk along Borst Avenue while the road remains closed.

County and city officials have worked closely together on the project — the intersection of Borst Avenue and Scheuber Road includes a sign marking the city limits. Lewis County commissioners voted in July to close its section of Borst Avenue to through traffic until Dec. 11. The city followed suit, though its decision to do so did not require a vote of the city council.

“The contractors are putting in the hours to speed this up,” Ashmore said. “I know the 120 days (of closure) does run into December. I’m hopeful that some if that is open before then, obviously. I think that’s still the hope that partial traffic is able to get through there by sometime in September. I would say that’s the hope, and I like to hope for the best.”

Onlookers who drive past or even down Borst Avenue can still see signs of progress despite the finished product being months away. Workers poured more than 4,000 feet of lineal curbing earlier this week and have been finishing prep work for the next phase: removal of the existing asphalt.

Ashmore said that as dry as summertime may seem, there have been times when rain has caused work to pause for a short time. “Mother Nature can put a kibosh to your schedule whenever that happens,” he said.

The most recent schedule produced by the contractors had them set to begin tearing into the asphalt beginning Thursday near Johnson Road. They’ll work from north to south in the direction of the high school, with crews set to lay the rock base for repayment right behind them. Prep work for the pathway will also pick up speed.

“One of the things that’s kind of interesting with us doing a big project out there is the lead time,” Ashmore said. “The lead time on the light poles for the walkway is like four months. In this strong economy, It seems like every contractor that wants to work can find work.”