Centralia reviews transportation element; consultants flag 22 intersections for study and future congestion

Centralia held a joint workshop of the City Council and Planning Commission on Feb. 25 to review proposed updates to the transportation element of the city’s comprehensive plan.

Patty Page, the city engineer, told the council the transportation element is required by the Revised Code of Washington and that the city is working on goals and policies to meet state growth-management requirements. "This is about transportation, which...is required as part of the RCWs," Page said.

Jacobs consultants Neha Ratti and Chris Pilant presented the consultants' field work and traffic modeling. Ratti said staff and consultants studied 22 intersections the city identified as safety or capacity concerns, collected crash data and reviewed the pedestrian and bicycle network. "We studied 22 intersections in the city," Ratti said, and identified locations with high crash frequencies, gaps in sidewalks and bikeways and needs for improved transit connectivity.

The consultants ran a 2045 travel-demand forecast and tested two scenarios: a future with only the current network and a future that adds approved Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) projects. The analysis showed several intersections already near failure and additional intersections expected to fail by 2045 if no improvements are made. Ratti's presentation highlighted Harrison Avenue near the I-5 ramps and the Belmont Avenue intersection as recurring high-crash locations.

Short-term projects listed in the plan include TIP projects already in city, county or state programs. Longer-term, 20-year solutions include a Westside Connector phase, intersection improvements on Harrison and Johnson, pedestrian improvements near Centralia Middle School, adaptive signal timing along the Harrison corridor and a possible Blair Road extension tied to a future interchange. Pilant described adaptive signals as an interconnected system that can adjust to real-time conditions to reduce delay.

Council members and planning commissioners asked questions about specific corridors and project details. Councilor questions focused on whether improvements would cover the corridor between Kresge and Gold avenues, the possibility of a signal versus a roundabout at certain intersections, and the effect of removing some left-turn movements on local access. Patty Page and Jacobs staff said decisions such as signal versus roundabout would be determined during later design phases and noted right-of-way and railroad constraints around North Shubert and Galvin Road.

The presentation also noted that delivery of some projects depends on local funding measures—specifically a transportation benefit district levy that will be on the ballot this year—and coordination with Lewis County and WSDOT for corridor and interchange work.

The consultants and staff left the council with a prioritized project list and maps; the council did not take formal action at the workshop but will use the analysis in the comprehensive plan adoption process.

The workshop portion concluded with Page inviting members of the public to contact her at the city engineering office for more information; she said the presentation materials would be posted to the city website the next morning.