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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Traffic Biggest Millwood Issue, Candidates Agree

Millwood’s mayoral race is a quiet one.

There are few divisive issues in this town.

“There aren’t any,” said Mayor Jeanne Batson, who is seeking a third term. “We’ve got a pretty laid-back town.”

Challenger Frank Cook agrees.

“It’s a small town,” he said.

But while the sidewalks that have been torn by tree roots need replacing, the traffic that passes by them is much louder than any election hype.

Both Batson and Cook, say that traffic is the biggest issue.

“If I could, I’d like to change traffic on Argonne Road. It’s starting to look worse than I-90,” said Cook, who has served on the City Council for a decade.

Cook said he decided to challenge Batson to give the 1,700 people of Millwood a choice for mayor this year. If defeated, he will serve two more years on the council.

Traffic has increased since the Argonne underpass opened last October, both Cook and Batson said.

Cook said he would like to see another north-south arterial added to the county. And that would probably mean a road outside of Millwood.

“And that’s OK by me,” he said.

Batson, who has served as mayor for the past eight years, said she would like to see a bridge built across the Spokane River at University to relieve some of the pressure on the four-lane Argonne bridge.

In the past, Spokane County has talked of widening Argonne through Millwood, including the bridge. But Batson said no way to that.

“That would increase traffic through Millwood,” she said. “We don’t want six lanes of traffic going through our town,” she said.

While neither says there’s one clear answer on how to address the increased traffic flowing through Millwood, they both say it’s time to look at the issue.

“My biggest concern is that the fire chief says at certain times he can’t get the fire truck out because of the traffic,” Cook said.

Other issues include looking at revitalizing the small downtown area. Revamping the exterior of a strip of shops along Argonne from Euclid to Dalton would bring life to the downtown area, said Batson.

She said she has been speaking with outside investors, but wouldn’t say who.

“It’s just got be someone with a lot of money and good ideas,” Batson said.

Next spring, the city will also begin to repair sidewalks in an area bounded by Argonne and Sargent, Euclid and Liberty, Batson said.

Most of the major city work has been done. Last year the city finished a five-year, $6 million project to replace water and sewer mains and to repair streets.

Millwood also bought two new fire trucks and is currently looking at either making major repairs to the third or buying a new one.

“I would like to explore the option of a new truck rather than replace the transmission,” Cook said.

There are no overwhelming debts, no annexing issues, both said.

What’s going on now are just small-town issues.

“What people like about our town is that it is a small town, and I want to keep it that way,” Batson said.

So does Cook. The issues that face Millwood are unlike the county and other large towns.

“This isn’t Spokane,” he said.

Many items affecting the Valley will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.

, DataTimes MEMO: Today’s Valley Voice contains mini-profiles of all candidates involved in mayoral and council races in Millwood, Rockford and Fairfield. Please see pages 7,8 and 9. Stories about the Valley Fire Distric 1, Fire District 8 and Fire District 13 elections appeared in the Oct. 25 edition of the Valley Voice. The Liberty Lake Sewer District commissioner race was featured in the Oct. 23 Valley Voice. Central Valley, East Valley, Freeman and West Valley school board candidates were profiled in the Oct. 23 Valley Voice.

Today’s Valley Voice contains mini-profiles of all candidates involved in mayoral and council races in Millwood, Rockford and Fairfield. Please see pages 7,8 and 9. Stories about the Valley Fire Distric 1, Fire District 8 and Fire District 13 elections appeared in the Oct. 25 edition of the Valley Voice. The Liberty Lake Sewer District commissioner race was featured in the Oct. 23 Valley Voice. Central Valley, East Valley, Freeman and West Valley school board candidates were profiled in the Oct. 23 Valley Voice.