Editing Centralia, Washington (section)

==Infrastructure==

===Transportation===

====Air====
Centralia is served by the [[Chehalis–Centralia Airport]]. The city, beginning in 1961, was once a co-owner of the airfield<ref name="TCAPA">{{cite news |last1=Wayt |first1=Bob |title=Twin Cities airport 'prettiest' - Airport has had its controversial issues |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1976/07-03/page-22 |access-date=July 17, 2024 |work=The Daily Chronicle |date=July 3, 1976 |page=E}}</ref> but withdrew from the joint operating agreement in 2004 due to concerns over contract violations, liability, and [[Cost–benefit analysis|cost-benefits]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McClurg |first1=Dian |title=Airport controversy continues |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/airport-controversy-continues,239454? |access-date=July 18, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=July 14, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Spurr |first1=Kyle |title=Chehalis-Centralia Airport Ownership in Question |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/chehalis-centralia-airport-ownership-in-question,93112 |access-date=July 18, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=October 11, 2013}}</ref> Centralia was once home to the Centralia Municipal Air Field located near Fort Borst Park. Opened in August 1927 to 10,000 spectators and an aerial performance, the airport quietly folded by the mid-1930s reportedly due to hardships caused by the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wayt |first1=Bob |title=Centralia once had airfield |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1977/12-03/page-34 |access-date=July 18, 2024 |work=The Daily Chronicle |date=December 3, 1977 |page=W}}</ref>

====Railroads====
[[Amtrak]], the national passenger rail system, provides service to [[Centralia station (Washington)|Centralia station]], stopping at the town's renovated 1912 railroad depot.  Amtrak train 11, the southbound ''[[Coast Starlight]]'', is scheduled to depart Centralia at 11:45am with service to Kelso-Longview, [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], [[Emeryville, California]] (with bus connection to [[San Francisco]]), and [[Union Station (Los Angeles)|Los Angeles]].  Amtrak train 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, is scheduled to depart Centralia at 5:57pm daily with service to [[Olympia, Washington|Olympia-Lacey]], [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] and [[Seattle]]. [[Amtrak Cascades|Amtrak ''Cascades'']] trains, operating as far north as [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]] and as far south as [[Eugene, Oregon]], serve Centralia several times daily in both directions. BNSF trains in Centralia's downtown rail yard and on the mainline serve local and regional shippers, but can affect the timeliness of Amtrak service and are a noisy reminder of the days of the town's heyday as the crossroads of four major railroads ([[Union Pacific]], [[Milwaukee Road]], [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern]] and [[Northern Pacific Railway|Northern Pacific]]).

====Public Transportation====

Bus service is provided by [[Lewis County Transit]]. Routes originating in Centralia serve [[Olympia, Washington|Olympia]], [[Chehalis, Washington|Chehalis]], [[Castle Rock, Washington|Castle Rock]], and [[Kelso, Washington|Kelso]], among other locations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bus Routes |url=https://lewiscountytransit.org/bus-routes/ |website=Lewis County Transit |date=December 31, 2023}}</ref>

====Automotive====

Centralia is situated alongside [[I-5]], and it is located almost exactly halfway between [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] and [[Seattle]] on this highway. Its primary exit is at mile marker 82, with mile 0 being the Portland city limits and mile 164 being near Downtown Seattle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hayden Island Neighborhood Network to Starbucks Reserve Roastery |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hayden+Island,+Portland,+OR/Starbucks+Reserve+Roastery,+1124+Pike+St,+Seattle,+WA+98101/@46.6081564,-123.9558411,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x5495a8923145fd47:0x249dc2c7b630a248!2m2!1d-122.681142!2d45.6135715!1m5!1m1!1s0x54906acdccf44db1:0x6da0c1f2d7a6736e!2m2!1d-122.32809!2d47.6140443!3e0?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUwNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D |website=Hayden Island Neighborhood Network to Starbucks Reserve Roastery |language=en}}</ref> [[U.S. Route 12 in Washington|U.S. Route 12]] passes through Centralia while it is [[concurrency (road)|concurrent]] with I-5. [[Washington State Route 507]] originates in Centralia, terminating in [[Pierce County, Washington|Pierce County]] via [[Tenino, Washington|Tenino]] and [[Yelm, Washington|Yelm]].

===Utilities===

====Communications====
The first telephone operations in Centralia began in 1891 when the city was connected to the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company (STTC) located on Tower Avenue. The first customer was a neighboring pair of attorneys. The STTC recorded 23 subscribers the following year, falling to only six in 1893, but began to slowly rebound at the turn of the century. By 1910, over 500 customers subscribed to the line, serving approximately 1,000 customers in the Twin Cities when the STTC was renamed in 1916 as the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company . By the mid-1960s, the area was served by [[Pacific Northwest Bell]] and had a subscriber list of over 12,000 between Centralia and Chehalis.<ref>{{cite news |title=Telephone Services Came Early - Chehalis Phones Busy |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1966/10-10/page-36 |access-date=July 31, 2024 |work=The Daily Chronicle |date=October 10, 1966 |page=A22}}</ref>

====Water====
{{As of|2023}}, Centralia Public Works was granted $85,000 to fund searches for lead pipes in the city, the only water utility in Washington state to accept monies from a $63&nbsp;million federal bill passed in 2021 meant to help find and replace lead piping. In 2018, the city investigated the use of lead pipes in the municipal water system, specifically for homes built from the 1920s through the 1940s. The city has found only five [[Gooseneck (piping)|pigtail connections]] made of lead since the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Withycombe |first1=Claire |title=WA struggles to hand out federal cash to find and replace lead pipes |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-struggles-to-hand-out-federal-cash-to-find-and-replace-lead-pipes/ |access-date=February 21, 2024 |work=The Seattle Times |date=September 9, 2023}}</ref>

Centralia built a [[wastewater treatment]] facility beginning in 2001 that is located on {{convert|300|acre|ha}} in the Ford's Prairie neighborhood near the [[Parks and recreation in Centralia, Washington#Discovery Trail|Discovery Trail]]. Begun from a [[Washington Department of Ecology]] loan that eventually cost almost $27&nbsp;million, the facility replaced an at-capacity treatment plant built in 1951 near Mellen Street. {{As of|2024}}, the facility processes up to {{convert|10,500,000|USgal}} of wastewater per day.<ref>{{cite news |title=Centralia wastewater treatment plant loan fully paid off 21 years later |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/centralia-wastewater-treatment-plant-loan-fully-paid-off-21-years-later,372889 |access-date=January 6, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=December 31, 2024}}</ref>