The West Main Street Realignmentproject runs from the Allen Street Bridge on the west end of Allen Street, to the west city limits of Kelso at West Cowlitz Way. The Realignment Project stems growing traffic, congestion and accidents along the corridor.
The goal of the project is to redevelop the streets in the area to deal with those issues, and at the same time provide a desirable business friendly environment. While somewhat competing ends, there are a number of ways to approach them for the best compromise.
Several studies have been completed over the past eight years, all looking to address the different issues. To date, there is general agreement that the problems in fact need to be addressed, but no final decisions have been made on what the project should ultimately look like.
Future Direction
The West Main Realignment Project is carrying forward to:
Complete a final corridor plan to confirm the proposed alignment options and provide the City Council with information to decide on a final alignment;
Develop the supporting environmental documents;
Develop engineering plans, estimates and specifications for construction; and
Build the project.
The engineering consulting firm of Otak, Inc. is continuing with this work. We expect the corridor plan to be completed in April or May 2010. Otak and Lochner have given presentations now to the City Council on design and financing options. (Those presentations are now on the site.) The Council is beginning to narrow the options, and there continue to be opportunities for public input into the process before the Council selects a preferred option. When that decision is made, we anticipate design work to begin on at least part of the selected solution.
It should be noted that the current economic climate has made the Council’s decisions even more challenging than would normally be anticipated on a project of this magnitude. As they consider the options, they are faced with the requirement that once an agency signs a federal aid project and begins to spend the funds, they are obligated to complete a useful project or be faced with repaying the federal funds.
We will continue to update this project web site when significant elements of the project are considered and completed, and advise you with an email if you wish. It will provide the Citizens of Kelso the opportunity to both watch the development of the project, and an avenue to provide feedback. If you would like to receive notices when updates are posted, and/or significant issues are being addressed, you may send an email to the City of Kelso. We will be happy to include you on our email list!
Al King, P.E., Project Manager
City of Kelso / H. W. Lochner
