The Chehalis City Council is preparing to formally adopt the conceptual plan for the Imagine Downtown Chehalis rejuvenation project after the initial designs, project timeline and public input were presented to the council Monday, March 24.
Aaron Luoma, principal architect at HBB Landscape Architecture, told the council that there are plenty more design details to sort out for the project that roughly extends as west as North National Avenue and as east as Northeast Cascade Avenue and Northeast Park Street.
The project aims to improve the downtown area while preserving the history and identity of the city. Luoma’s update comes after several open houses and a survey to collect community feedback on the rejuvenation project.
“We are at the tail end where we’re wrapping up the costs and a little bit of the engineering work and our final report that will be given to the city next month,” Luoma said.
Through its public engagement efforts in phase one, the architecture firm found that there was great concern for pedestrian safety, especially crossing Northwest Pacific Avenue and Northeast Washington Avenue. Community members expressed that pinch points and irregular intersections make for confusing traffic patterns for both pedestrians and motorists. Residents also shared an appreciation of and desire to preserve downtown’s local businesses, small-town feel and historic charm.
Luoma added that one of the most significant findings from their first phase was that the right-of-way spaces in many of the downtown streets are much wider than necessary, contributing to speeding.
“When you have a lot of room to maneuver your vehicle, the tendency is to drive faster versus if it’s narrower, it’s going to slow speeds down but still keep traffic moving,” he said.
HBB Landscape Architecture used the feedback to develop concept alternatives and initial designs in front of community members at the farmers’ market, inviting people to contribute as they designed. They developed three quick sketches, two of which received favorable reactions and feedback from the public through the farmers’ market and the following online survey, Luoma said.
The third phase of the project included a full topographic survey of the entirety of downtown Chehalis, looking at the concerns brought up by city staff and the community. City staff, business owners and representatives from Experience Chehalis teamed up to create an advisory committee that helped guide the firm in its decision-making process.
Luoma showed designs, dubbed Concept A, of a two-way Washington Avenue, which he said would help quiet and calm Pacific Avenue and remove through traffic along Washington. One design of Washington showed 10-foot travel lanes on both sides and a 10-foot planted median dividing northbound and southbound lanes, along with 6-foot sidewalks and 8-foot parallel parking spaces.
The Concept A design of a one-lane Pacific Avenue showed additional angled parking, wider sidewalks, and loading zones, similar to Market Avenue. Concept A would add 179 new trees, 14,000 square feet of additional pedestrian space, and 46,000 square feet of additional green space, Luoma said.
Concept B keeps the traffic movement similar to what it is today, Luoma said, but traffic lanes are narrowed.
“That narrowing of the lanes helps us add more pedestrian spaces for sidewalks and street trees along Washington and Pacific, but we’re still maintaining that predominantly two-lane, one-way direction on Washington and Pacific,” Luoma said.
The Concept B design of Washington Avenue displayed two one-way, 10-foot travel lanes and added areas for trees and sidewalks on both sides, while Pacific Avenue’s design featured two one-way, 10-foot lanes with 12-foot spaces for sidewalks on both sides.
HBB Landscape Architecture also presented a sketch of Market Avenue that included a narrower center lane to widen sidewalks and delineate angled parking, Luoma said. He described changes to Boistfort Street that would be much more pedestrian-friendly.
“This envisions a Boistfort on the south side between Pacific and Market that’s permanently closed and that could be open for loading and deliveries and events but not for common everyday traffic just to provide an open, flat, flexible space for the farmers’ market,” Luoma said. “It could also have dances, festivals, small music events, and we really don’t lose a lot of parking when we do that considering how much space there is. We can easily offset that loss of parking by what we’ve done on Pacific.”
The firm envisions the opposite end of Boistfort across from Market including a community space with more planting, terrace seating, a play space for children, a small dog area, and more.
“It really gives that pedestrian space back to the community, and the loss of parking and traffic movement is really minimal compared to the gain that we have here,” Luoma said.
Both concepts would bring additional parking stalls to the downtown area, with Concept A featuring 248 stalls and Concept B providing 261 compared to the existing 226.
The project will be funded by the City of Chehalis, along with federal and state grants, and the total estimated cost could be near $48 million to $60 million, depending on the concept chosen and barring additional council feedback. Costs include paved surfaces, undergrounding utilities, site furnishings, planting, sales tax and permitting, and more.
Luoma said his team’s priorities for the implementation plan are intersections around downtown and improvements to a number of specific streets. They will present a report of the master plan in April with an executive summary, designs, phasing plan, implementation plan, cost estimate, and architectural design guidelines framework.
To learn more about Imagine Downtown Chehalis, visit https://experiencechehalis.com/imagine-chehalis/.
