Construction traffic flow discussed
Residents listened to details of the upcoming Argonne Road reconstruction project Monday night at the regular Millwood City Council meeting.
Matt Gillis, project manager from engineering firm Welch Comer and Associates, also updated the council on the status of two pedestrian enhancement grants, one awarded to the city last year, while the other is pending approval.
Gillis stated the design for the federally funded reconstruction project is 90 percent comple. He plans to submit the design to the Washington state Department of Transportation later this month for approval. Gillis estimates the project going out to bid in March or April, with construction tentatively planned for May through July.
“We anticipate the overall construction taking three to four months,” Gillis said in a phone interview following the meeting.
Because of the high volume of daytime traffic on Argonne, Gillis recommended the council consider night construction. The council agreed with Gillis and unanimously approved his recommendation to stipulate night construction for the project.
Night construction offers an opportunity to complete construction sooner according to Gillis. It also lowers traffic control costs, is safer for pedestrians and better for the Millwood business community. Gillis stated the negatives as noise disturbances to residents and additional lighting costs.
The preliminary schedule has construction beginning on the east side of Argonne, limiting traffic to one northbound and one southbound lane. Gillis recommended limiting access to side streets by not allowing left turns from the west side of Argonne. Further, he recommended a temporary protected left turn lane set up at Grace.
“We can’t control the volume of traffic so we’ve got to do our best to minimize its impact,” Gillis said. “It’s going to be ultimately better for everybody not having those left turns.”
Based on Gillis’ recommendation, the council voted unanimously to restrict left turns off the west side of Argonne during construction except for the protected left turn at Grace.
Welch Comer’s design includes constructing concrete bulb outs at the intersections of Dalton and Euclid. These delineate parallel parking on the west side of Argonne and create what Gillis calls a “parking refuge.” Additionally, every corner of each intersection in the scope of work receives a pedestrian ramp to meet American with Disabilities Act requirements.
The scope of the $1.3 million dollar project involves a full-depth replacement from Frederick to South River Way. A full-depth reconstruction uses six inches of asphalt over 24 inches of base rock.
The council scaled back its original project scope last September, eliminating a resurface from Buckeye to Frederick, due to rising construction costs.
Along with the reconstruction project, Welch Comer received approval to begin design work on pedestrian enhancements along the corridor. The scope of work includes pedestrian improvements from Buckeye to South River Way not covered under the federal grant, such as sidewalk improvements, meeting ADA requirements at intersections outside the federally funded scope of work, and removing utility poles obstructing pedestrian walkways.
The enhancements are funded through a $108,000 Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant awarded to the city last year; as well as a pending WSDOT grant. The city expects to hear about the WSDOT grant funding early spring.
The design will include all the recommended enhancements in anticipation of receiving this second grant.
Gillis said if the city does not receive the WSDOT grant, it could use a deductible alternate strategy. This gives the city the ability to modify the contractor’s scope of work pending award of the grant funding and the project bid estimate.
In other city news, city planner Tom Richardson presented amendments to the Growth Management Act (GMA) Joint Planning Interlocal agreement. The Council voted unanimously in favor of adopting the amendments as presented.