Argonne: ‘Make the best of what’s there’

MILLWOOD – “Make the best of what’s there” is the option Millwood attendees favored for the Argonne Corridor during a special town hall meeting Tuesday night.

The proposal maximizes the existing four-lane Argonne Road by adding visual enhancements and modifying signal phasing and timing to improve traffic operations.

Speaking to a nearly full house, W&H Pacific project manager and engineer Mark Brower, along with Katherine Casseday, traffic engineering manager from the consulting firm Mirai in Kirkland, Wash., presented four options for the corridor.

The options were the result of evaluating potential alternatives proposed during the first Town Hall meeting in August and two Stakeholder Advisory Council meetings held in August and September.

The stakeholders met last Monday to evaluate each alternative against 12 specific criteria such as safety, residential access, cost, implementation and north-south travel. The evaluation process narrowed the alternatives to the four that best match the town’s need.

The option, titled “Make the best of what’s there,” received the majority of votes from both the stakeholders on Monday and Millwood residents attending Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’re proposing some adjustment to the signal timing so the side streets get a little longer walk time for the pedestrians,” said Casseday. “This comes at a slight consequence to the through traffic but with these tweaks it gets the side street delays cut in about half. That is a substantial improvement for the community.”

Radar speed limit signs, pedestrian lighting, patterned-pigmented lighted crosswalks, and landscaping opportunities are some of the items W&H suggests using to enhance the corridor.

“Frankly I was raised with making due with what you had,” longtime resident June King said about her selection. “If they can do something with this option I think it would be great.”

“I would like the town to look like the town it wants to be,” said Millwood resident Janis Langdon. “Show its age with grace.”

The three other options W&H presented were: widening Argonne for left-turn lanes at each of the four controlled intersections; reducing the number of lanes to two and adding a center turn lane; and widening Argonne to five lanes.

In addition to presenting the final options, W&H proposed alternative funding sources at the local, state, and federal levels. The concept-level construction estimate for the favored option is estimated at $1.9 million and does not include the cost of proposed enhancements or design fees.

“It will take a mixture of funding options,” said Millwood Mayor Dan Mork. “There is no way the local taxes are going to pay for this project.”

Incorporating the additional comments from the stakeholders and residents, W&H plans to further develop the vision of the corridor and compile the information into a written draft report. W&H hopes to complete the report by early November, then make it available to the public.

“We want those documents thoroughly reviewed and understood by everybody,” said Brower. “We want comments back.”

Brower hopes to wrap the project up by end of year so the town can incorporate some of W&H’s solutions into the Argonne reconstruction and rehabilitation project set for early 2008. Sidewalks, curb extensions, and laying conduit for the signal coordination are some of the solutions Brower outlined as part of their implementation strategy for next year.

Mork said the council completed the study this year “to incorporate as many features as we can when the ground is torn up. All options will be looked at before next spring.”

Funding for the Argonne project comes from a 2008 Spokane Regional Transportation Council $1.3 million grant.