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When Millwood residents, business owners and city leaders gathered to discuss the priorities of a corridor study along Argonne Road nearly two years ago, the subject of inadequate sidewalks was near the top of the list.
In August 2007, during a special advisory committee meeting at Millwood City Hall, Mayor Dan Mork described how the busy arterial lacked amenities for pedestrians and had “essentially dissected the town.”
“It needs to be safe for both automobiles and people,” Mork said.
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Work continued this month on an extensive resurfacing project along Argonne Road in Millwood. The city received word recently that a grant from the state Transportation Improvement Board has been awarded to help with additional sidewalk construction on the west side of Argonne.
Photo by: Craig Howard |
While some areas along Argonne feature paved paths, other portions have sidewalks in disrepair or no walkways at all. The corridor study, spurred by a $1.3 million grant from the Washington Department of Transportation, set out to address not only the resurfacing of the city’s main street, but improvements to intersections, curbing and sidewalks supported by organizations like the Millwood Better for Business group.
Construction on Argonne began May 4, although it didn’t take long for some residents to express concern over what appeared to be a lack of adherence to certain priorities mentioned in the corridor study. At the June 1 City Council meeting, Bobbie Beese, a property owner along Argonne, wondered why a series of curb extensions – or bulb-outs – had not been included in the project thus far.
The extensions are intended to slow down traffic and improve safety conditions for pedestrians – two main components of the corridor study.
Project Manager Matt Gillis of Welch-Comer Engineers pointed out that current funding included provisions for certain pedestrian improvements, but would not cover all of the upgrades mentioned in the study.
At the time, it was uncertain whether the city would receive additional grant money from the state Transportation Improvement Board, an agency that distributes funds to towns and cities throughout Washington to assist with transportation projects. Millwood had already benefited from a TIB donation of $108,000 to assist with sidewalk improvements in conjunction with the resurfacing of Argonne. The city matched that grant with $12,000 of its own.
Gillis said Welch-Comer went about “turning over stones” to secure extra funds for further renovations after the initial WSDOT grant was announced.
“From the very beginning, we understood that the city had a grant to rebuild the road, but it also had a well-done corridor study that called for other improvements,” Gillis said. “It was just a matter of trying to find the funds to do the work.”
When Mork and city representatives met with Gillis to discuss awarding the pedestrian project on June 3, it appeared as if an additional $26,000 from TIB would be on its way to help with sidewalk construction. Later that same week, the grant remained a question mark.
Meanwhile, Cameron-Reilly, a local construction firm, had signed on to complete a project that would include the curb extensions and alternate sidewalk work on the west side of Argonne.
By last week, Mork had talked with representatives from TIB and found out that the agency had committed $26,707 to the project. The city would provide a $3,600 match.
“We probably could have come up with the money had the TIB funds not been there,” Mork said. “We’re just thankful for all the help they’ve given us.”
Millwood will contribute an additional amount of just over $23,000 to complete two more pedestrian projects along Argonne, including curb extensions at Liberty and Bridgeport.
“It makes sense to do this now while Argonne is being resurfaced,” Mork said.
“Our goal is to end up with a safe street that motorists and pedestrians are happy with.”
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By
Craig Howard
