Pedestrian-friendly makeover moving along
After two years of discussion and planning, the city of Millwood is on its way to becoming a pedestrian-friendly community.
Project manager Matt Gillis, from Welch Comer & Associates, updated the city council on the nearly complete sidewalk enhancement project at Monday night’s special bi-monthly council meeting. He also provided an update on the Argonne Corridor.
“As you can see we’re going like crazy on the sidewalk project right now,” Gillis said of the $172,000 project. “Most of the sidewalk south of the tracks is either in process or completed.”
Contractor Cameron-Reilly began work on the south end of Argonne at the beginning of the month and is working north, block by block, replacing or installing new sidewalk. Gillis estimated completion of the project by month’s end.
Funding for the sidewalk improvement project comes from a $108,000 grant obtained last December, and an additional $26,000 this spring from the Transportation Improvement Board. The city agreed to pay an additional $38,000 to cover the cost of completion.
To allow for sidewalk construction, Red Diamond, the contractor reconstructing Argonne from South River Way to Frederick, temporarily moved off the construction site. Once completed, Gillis said, Red Diamond will return to reset all the traffic control and complete the paving process. He estimated the entire paving operation taking over a week to complete.
“We initially thought three or four days of work,” Gillis said of the final paving operation. “Now (our) best guess is about a week and a half.”
According to Gillis, the extra time allows for correcting depression areas caused by grading during the initial paving work in June. He assured the council that Red Diamond will correct the problem by what Gillis terms “shim” paving. He explained shim paving as laying a thin layer of asphalt down to even the surface before the final paving.
Once Red Diamond begins the final paving process, traffic on Argonne will again be restricted to two lanes.
Gillis added he is finalizing change orders and working with the Washington State Department of Transportation to calculate the dollar amount remaining from the $1.3 million grant the city received for the Argonne Corridor project.
“We’re at 4 to 5 percent of the overall project, which is good,” Gillis said on the percentage of change orders. “But we’re still finalizing numbers.”
Gillis hopes to present a final number to the council at the August meeting. The remaining funds will dictate how far the city can extend the scope of work south. Currently the project goes from South River Way to Frederick. If enough funds exist, the city hopes to extend the scope of work south to Buckeye Avenue.
The council further discussed and unanimously approved an ordinance restricting parking in designated areas in the city. The ordinance places parking restrictions in ten areas such as the east side of Laura Road from Frederick to Buckeye Avenue, and the south side of Buckeye from Bessie Road to Laura.
All restricted areas will be posted with “no parking” signs. Vehicles in violation of the ordinance will be towed and impounded.
Millwood Mayor Dan Mork said residents’ concerns prompted the adoption of the ordinance.
Mork also provided the council a drawing showing the front of Millwood City Hall’s proposed new landscaping. The rendering was provided by Haase Landscaping free of charge. The estimated cost for the project is more than $7,000. Mork hopes to receive council approval next month.