Archived Project News

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April 18, 2011

City staff is working with its proejct design consultant, Otak, and Otak's subconsultant,
Universal Field Services (UFS) to begin preliminary work for right-of-way acquisition. This process is guided by stringent state and federal laws designed to assure that
both owners and tenants of those properties that are subject to acquisition in order
to construct the project are appropriately protected and receive fair compensation for the impacts on their properties, homes and businesses. No actual acquisitions will proceed until the environmental documents are cleared which is estimated at this time to be mid-September 2011.

UFS has sent, or will be soon sending, a copy of this linked document that outlines that process to all the affected owners and tenants. If you do not receive one, you are probably not directly affected. If you know that the property you have an interest in will be subject to acquisition, either in part or in its entirety, but have not received oneof these by April 25, please let us know.

March 1, 2011

A Council Workshop was held to brief the members on the status of the project, to bring them up to date on both its history and progress. (Click here for a PDF copy of the presentation). With receipt of the TIB grant, Phase I and Phase II have been combined into Project 1. The contract with Otak has been revised to complete the additional engineering and design work to take Project 1 to construction, likely in 2013 but maybe as early as 2012.

Environmental documents are nearing completion. When that work is completed and a NEPA approval given, acquisition of the right-of-way is planned to begin. Right-of-way acquisition procedures are carefully spelled out in both State and Federal law. Property owners and tenants will be notified before any direction acquisition actions are taken and provided specific information about the impacts to their property, as
well as their rights to compensation.

November 23, 2010

West Main Realignment Project Takes Huge Step Forward
Kelso City Manager Denny Richards confirmed today that the City has been awarded a $4.6 million State Transportation Improvement Board grant for the West Main Realignment Project. The largest single grant award from the 2010 program in the entire state, Public Works Director David Sypher noted “It reflects local, regional and state goals merging on this project.” Total funding now available to the project exceeds $6 million and will allow construction of both Phase I and Phase II.

These two phases combined will greatly improve traffic at West Main and SR-411 (1st Avenue) as well as make the crossover from West Main to Catlin. The crossover is a large part of improving both traffic along West Main as well as at the Ocean Beach Highway (SR-410) intersection. It is also key to the long term plans that will improve the West Kelso commercial area. Public Works staff is both surprised and pleased at the success of this application, and is working hard to develop the schedule to move the project forward. More information will become available in the next few weeks.

November 3, 2010

The November 3 Open House provided the first detailed perspective of the project “footprint” (Click here for a summary of the presentation). Those who attended were able to hear an overview of the process to date and see the various exhibits that showed how the project will lay across the corridor. (Click here for a PDF copy of the presentation).

The expectation given was that Phase I could be constructed, along with some additional work (to be determined) on Phase II. Construction may begin in 2011.

The Project Description page has been updated to reflect this work.

October 19, 2010

An Open House (Click here for a PDF copy of the announcement) will be held November 3, 2010 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Kelso City Hall Council Chambers. It will provide an opportunity for the public to see the Kelso West Main Project 30% design and hear how it was developed. These plans provide considerable detail about how the project will look when finally completed, and to see how it might impact properties within the corridor. Consultant and City staff will be available to respond to questions.

August 24, 2010

Work is progressing on what is called the “30% design”. This work will include the entire corridor, even though it appears unlikely that funding will be available to construct all of it at one time. This work is not at a level that will provide all of the information for construction, but it will tie down the actual location, how it will generally look, and what the project will impact. It also provides the information to do the environmental assessment required under state and federal law.

Once the 30% Design is complete, a summary sheet of that design will be posted for your review. We plan to have that available within the next few weeks.

June 1, 2010

The Final Corridor Report (Click here for a PDF copy of the report) has been released, and is now available. This report reflects a great deal of work, including multiple open houses and City Council sessions, along with stakeholders groups. It provides a complete picture of the corridor planning and decision processes to date. Appendices are not included, as they are very large files, but may be obtained by request.

March 9, 2010

Survey notices (Click here for a PDF copy of the flyer) are going out and should be received by residents and businesses affected within the corridor as Otak begins topographic and property boundary survey work.

March 2, 2010

Council presentation on preferred route (Click here for a PDF copy of the presentation). The Council directed Otak to proceed with preliminary design and environmental analysis on Alignment 3A.

February 24, 2010

Open House held to provide updated information to Citizens and an opportunity for feedback to City staff, the Consultant team, and for future feedback to the Council.
Click here for a PDF copy of the Presentation

February 2, 2010

Council Workshop held to continue discussion of the options (see project details.) Corridor options narrowed to the easterly crossovers for the consultant, Otak, to continue investigation and environmental reviews.

January 19, 2010

Council Workshop held to consider options and provide direction to the design team. Corridor options narrowed to the central and easterly crossovers.
Click here for a PDF copy of the OTAK Design Presentation

Click here for a PDF copy of the Lochner Funding Presentation

November 10, 2009

Project pages updated with information released at October 29 Open House and Council meeting. Alternatives are conceptual only.
Click here for a PDF copy (15 meg) of Alternative 1 & 1a

Click here for a PDF copy (15 meg) of Alternative 2 & 2a

Click here for a PDF copy (15 meg) of Alternative 3 & 3a

September 24, 2009

Project Information Sheet released.
Click here for a PDF copy of the press release
.

September 10, 2009

Planning Area and Corridor Options Layouts released.

Otak worked with the previous studies to identify the planning area for the corridor study and several potential corridors for the cross-over from West Main to Catlin.
Click here for a PDF copy of the Planning Area

Click here for a PDF copy of the Corridor Options

These corridor locations are not final locations, but a series of options to measure the impacts and provide a discussion point to finalize these options.

July 8, 2009

Contract with Otak, Inc. signed, work begins on corridor plan.