In 2015, the residents passed a ballot measure creating the Transportation Benefit District. This 2/10 of a cent tax on sales in the City generates over $650,00 per year dedicated solely to our streets. Although I was not on the City Council at the time the measure passed, I advocated and supported funding more projected through the Transportation Benefit District and our Streets budget. Street Repair is about safety, economic development, and quality of life.
I am proud to say that in 2019, the City’s Street Department budget is $1.3 million with more than $900,000 dedicated to street repair, including the long awaited Borst Avenue Project. If re-elected, I will continue to advocate larger arterial projects, as well as smaller street, alley, and sidewalk projects.
I am a leading advocate in the repair of Borst Avenue between the Centralia Middle School and Centralia High School. As a father of two young children, I could not ask other parents to send their students walking down that street if I were not willing to send mine. The road, like many in our community, is a danger to our students and residents. Lewis County joined the City of Centralia to present many options to the community and in 2019, work on Borst Avenue improvement will begin.
How are roads in Centralia “rated”?
The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a numerical index between 0 and 100 which is used to indicate the general condition of a pavement. It is widely used in transportationcivil engineering. It is a statistical measure and requires manual survey of the pavement. PCI surveying processes and calculation methods have been standardized by ASTM.
PCI was developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The method is based on a visual survey of the number and types of distresses in a pavement. The result of the analysis is a numerical value between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the best possible condition and 0 representing the worst possible condition.
Pavement distress types for asphalt pavements include:
- Low ride quality; Alligator cracking; Bleeding; Block cracking; Bumps and sags; Corrugations; Lane/shoulder drop-off; Patching and utility cut patching; etc.
The City and Street Department evaluate a number of factors when considering the street repair and rebuild, including traffic on the street, cost, emergency, and other municipal projects in and around the region of the street.
The City of Centralia has a PCI for streets and alleys that was conducted around 2012.
The PCI for the City is located here. I encourage residents to contact the public works department directly if there is an issue or question about street repair.
If you would like to report a Pothole or street problem, report here or call te Public Wors Department directly.