The City of Centralia invites residents, business and property owners, and community partners to attend a public meeting about the Main Street Corridor Plan on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Centralia Train Depot.
This interactive meeting will feature small-group table discussions and other exercises designed to enable participants to provide feedback on early concept designs for:
• A gateway connection for Centralia College off of Main Street;
• The preferred future streetscape design for Main Street; and
• Other strategic actions to improve the safety, appearance and economic vitality of the corridor.
The city has been working with the U.S. Department of Transportation through its Thriving Communities initiative that helps cities plan for safer, more connected and more vibrant transportation corridors, according to a news release from the city.
In August, the city invited the public to respond to an online survey, which received over 750 responses.
“In the future, people want to see wider sidewalks, more landscaping and a beautiful streetscape. They also want to keep all the on-street parking,” Amy Buckler, deputy city manager, said in the release. “With only 60 feet of right-of-way, we’ll have to make some trade-offs, and this meeting will help people think through those challenges.”
The city also recently hosted a business and property owner meeting in September, when participants suggested potential parking solutions, including converting some nearby side streets and conducting a study of on-street parking use, which is now underway.
Feedback from this meeting and other engagement activities will guide the city’s efforts to shape the future of Main Street as part of the Hub City Greenways Vision — a long-term plan to make Centralia safer, greener and more connected while maintaining its small-town character.
“Improvements in the corridor will take time and require both public and private investment. Public investment is going to depend on grant funding, and a good plan backed by the public will help the city be more competitive for grants,” Buckler said. “Forming a vision with the public is the first step.”
The Centralia Train Depot is located at 210 Railroad Avenue. For more information and to view the results of the online survey, visit https://tinyurl.com/3p3zvjp8.
