WinCo and More: Work on Ramp to Development Expected to Begin in July

Costs Adjusted as Work Progresses on Centralia Station

Posted

Port of Centralia commissioners on April 19 approved the fifth pay estimate — $386,356.85 — for construction progress on the first phase of the Centralia Station project, which is set to feature WinCo Foods as its anchor tenant when complete. 

The work is being completed by Toledo-based contractor Midway Underground.

In total, $2,245,333.59 has been paid so far to Midway Underground, which was awarded the project Aug. 26, 2022, for a bid of $6,116,322.03. The original engineer’s estimate was $6,356,265.81. 

Centralia Station is a proposed shopping center and mixed-use development near the Mellen Street Interstate 5 interchange.

WinCo is a warehouse-style supermarket chain that offers bulk food items and is open 24 hours a day. The port is still working with WinCo to finalize site plans for the shopping center. 

 

Change Orders

The original bid has been raised since February as three change orders have been approved for Midway Underground’s Contract. With the change orders included, the total for phase one is now expected to be $7,071,768,67.

The first change order, made on Feb. 1, saw an increase of $43,573 get approved for over-excavation of roadway subgrade on Alder Street, removing backfill of existing structures on Brotherson Road, over-excavation of a sewer trench and moving a pond outfall pipe.

“The other issue we ran into out there was the side sewer within Long Road Mobile Home Estates was not where it was marked on the as-built, though we have encountered it,” Port of Centralia Executive Director Kyle Heaton said at the Feb. 1 meeting. 

Both the second and third change orders were approved on April 19. The second was for an increase of $169,742.01 and the third totaled $742,131.63. 

Tree removal, ramp design revisions, additional catch basins on Alder Street, relocation of a sewer and drainage easement, Long Road lift station revisions at the city’s direction and over-excavation on Yew Street by the Brotherson Road apartments accounted for the second change order. 

“We discovered the Brotherson Road apartments had a crawl space in it that required us to fill in on both sides of the road, not just the road bed, and then over-excavation where the footings had been,” Heaton said at the April 19 meeting. 



Additionally, the City of Centralia required the port to paint all of the silver light poles specified when the original bid occurred black to match the ones the city uses now. 

The third change order accounted for conduit trench digging and backfilling, associated wiring, power gear and other electrical equipment as per direction from Centralia City Light. 

“When we originally went to bid on this, the electrical portion was left out of this,” Heaton said at the April 19 meeting. “There was discussion back and forth over who would install what, and ultimately we landed the way it’s always been with our contractor going through and installing conduits, installing the volt boxes, all that work.” 

 

Phase Two Contractor

Following the approval of the second and third change orders on April 19, Heaton announced the winning bid for Centralia Station phase two, Scarsella Bros. Inc., of Kent. 

Engineer estimates placed phase two’s cost at a minimum of $3,815,204, and Scarsella’s bid was the lowest of nine submitted before last week’s April 18 deadline at $2,337,681.75.

Phase two will entail a dedicated ramp and turning lane extending off the I-5 Mellen Street exit. 

The port expects phase two to begin once phase one is completed in July. Once stage two is completed, WinCo is expected to begin construction. 

“In regards to WinCo, they continue to work on design. I speak to them a couple times a week,” Heaton said at the April 19 meeting. “They continue to progress on that. I don’t have a date when they’re going to submit (the plans). That’s in their court.”