The City of Centralia has moved to set stages one and two of the Westside Connector Project in motion as the city council unanimously approved a public partnership agreement with Lewis County during the council’s Feb. 27 meeting.
Though the City of Centralia has signed the agreement, it is still awaiting approval by the Lewis County Board of Commissioners.
The Westside Connector Project aims to directly connect South Scheuber Road and Harrison Avenue to provide commuters with an alternate route west of Interstate 5 in between Centralia and Chehalis.
“The county commissioners met, I believe yesterday,” Centralia City Engineer Patty Page said to the council on Feb. 27. “So the agreement text, the concept, has been totally completed. Percentages of who is paying for what, there’s still some text finalization the county is working on … Once we have both signed, we can move forward.”
Funding for the project is mainly coming from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money the city was allocated and is obligated to use or lose by 2025. A total of $1.5 million in ARPA funds was approved for the Westside Connector project in February 2023 for stage one, along with an additional $500,000 in ARPA funds for stage two.
Lewis County has agreed to match stage two funds and pay for a portion of stage one. As of Feb. 27, the City of Centralia was on the hook for 80% of stage one’s costs with the county covering the remaining 20%. Page added HDR Engineering Inc. out of Olympia was already contracted to begin stage one of the project and was ready to begin work as soon as the county approved the finalized public partnership document.
“We had the survey work already done for them, so I handed that over to them last week and they are off and running on getting designs started on stage one,” Page said. “We plan on having that completed by the end of the year, and construction is next year.”
While not taking any official action and only speaking during public comment in the city council’s meeting, Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope said he was happy to see the project finally move forward.
“Knowing that I live close to Scheuber, and knowing the condition of Scheuber Road, I’m excited that’s going to be fixed and we’re going to have sidewalks so we don’t have to see kids walking on the side of the street,” Swope said.
The project aims to decrease emergency response time while increasing access to Providence Centralia Hospital and schools and parks located in the area, and also improve walkability and bikeability in the area.
It will be carried out in three stages. The first stage involves widening Scheuber Road North between Galvin and Mt. Vista roads, and adding sidewalks and bicycle facilities along with street lighting and striping. Stage two involves updating the type, size and location of a new bridge spanning the Chehalis River to link the South and North Scheuber roads. Assessments for other needed improvements to the Westside Connector Project’s north link — Sandra Avenue in between its intersection with Harrison Avenue down to Galvin Road —will also be made.
The third stage will include road improvements to South Scheuber Road from Cooks Hill Road in Centralia down to state Route 6 in Chehalis. Stage three’s funding and expected starting dates have yet to be determined.
