Getting There: Millwood’s main thoroughfare to undergo transformation this summer

The little town of Millwood is about to break ground on its largest road construction project in more than a decade.

Argonne Road as it makes its way through Millwood’s core will look a bit different at the end of the summer after work crews complete an extensive overhaul of the thoroughfare. The project, which will begin next Monday and stretch into September, seeks to improve safety, traffic flow and multimodal use through the nearly 100-year-old town.

“This project came about as a desire by the city to address multiple issues in one go,” said Millwood Mayor Kevin Freeman. “And working with partners, we were able to put together a funding package that addressed rail crossing issues, that addressed pedestrian, bike mobility and addressed traffic safety issues.”

The plans for Argonne include the addition of left turn lanes onto Dalton, Frederick and Liberty avenues; installation of upgraded railroad crossing equipment just before the intersection with Euclid Avenue; and the creation of a multimodal pathway from the Spokane River Bridge to the Millwood Interurban Trail. Residents can find more details and updates on the project as it is ongoing on the city’s web page.

At present, residents of the area have to contend with bumper-to-bumper traffic down Argonne at peak rush hours. With only one left turn lane while traveling north, it can be challenging to access the businesses and side streets on the thoroughfare. The road is one of few crossing points over the Spokane River, and congestion is exacerbated by Union Pacific engines crawling over Argonne as the rail company’s main Canadian line cuts through the Inland Northwest.

The intersection has long been a concern of the company’s, and there’s been a number of train on vehicle accidents in the area, Freeman said.

“Union Pacific asserts it is one of the most dangerous intersections they have on this line because of the configuration, the closeness of Euclid-Empire to the rail line itself, the location of the rail line, the location of the signals, pedestrian traffic, the fact that people often get caught at the stoplight and they are crossing the train track,” Freeman said. “There’s a number of issues.”

The multimodal improvements are one part of a much broader scheme, Freeman said.

The city completed the 1.5 -mile interurban trail in 2019, as part of what was envisioned to be a multijurisdiction partnership to build a trail from the Children of the Sun Trail in Spokane to Mirabeau Parkway. It never came to fruition, but Freeman said the idea is picking up steam again. The multimodal path to be constructed this summer would allow access to the Centennial Trail, which could be closer to Millwood after Spokane County realigns it to follow Maringo Drive as it intends to one day.

“The idea was, perhaps what we can do is make a connector from the Millwood Interurban Trail to the Centennial Trail at Maringo,” Freeman said. “You could have a southern loop; people could come off of the Centennial Trail and take the Millwood trail on the south side of the river, or they could take the Centennial Trail on the north side of the river, knowing that they were going to rejoin at Argonne.”

Cosmetic improvements will include realigned and repainted lanes, decorative lighting between Euclid and Liberty and new traffic signals. Freeman said the city intended to include those elements when the city completed a full-depth reconstruction of Argonne in 2008, but construction and budget challenges amid the Great Recession stopped those improvements at the time.

The work itself is expected to cost around $2.4 million, while the project’s total cost is around $4.2 million. Freeman said nearly 90% of the project’s funding comes from outside sources, including federal, state and local grants, which allowed the city to incorporate more of the cosmetic, pedestrian and cyclist aspects.

“In the broad scheme of things, it really is a once-in-a-multidecade project,” Freeman said. “We were fortunate to come to the state at a time when Millwood, as a small city, was in a unique position to look at funding for a project like this. And once we started rolling, we started getting a lot of support from other agencies, and we were able to add funding and provide other enhancements along the way.”

The project has received some pushback from members of the central business district flanking Argonne, who worry about the project’s immediate and potential implications.

Traffic will be reduced to one lane in either direction at points throughout the summer, and despite the city’s plans to provide turn lanes during construction, it may still be challenging to access some of those businesses. That’ll change when all the turn lanes are completed, but businesses may see less customers in the meantime.

Greg Mott, owner of the Corner Door Cafe at Argonne and Dalton, said he expects year-over-year sales to be down 20% this summer as a result of the construction.

“The whole project is just absurd: the complexity and the money being spent,” Mott said.

Mott’s frustrations are rooted in the challenges he had to contend with during the rebuild of Argonne amid the Great Recession. He said communication throughout was poor and hasn’t seemed to have improved, and the city did not deliver on all it had promised, like the lighting that will finally be installed this summer.

Paul Edwards, owner of Argonne Cycle in Millwood, shared a similar sentiment in talking about the upcoming work.

“Personally, I didn’t think it was necessary,” Edwards said. “Most of the businesses around here, we didn’t think it was a necessary thing, but they did it anyway.”

Freeman acknowledges the city had room for improvement in their communication with the community about the 2025 project as it moved through City Hall. Millwood has a small staff, and the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the funding search and planning process, he said.

“It was very difficult to have the sorts of interactions on this project that you probably should have had,” Freeman said. “Especially during COVID, when you’re still trying to keep the project afloat and also come together with more funding.”

Ryan Stockton, co-owner of Stockwell’s Chill N Grill just a few blocks down from the Corner Door Cafe, shares Motts’ concern about impacts to his business this summer. It’ll be the first major construction project with which he’ll have to contend since opening the bar and restaurant in 2021. He thinks it’ll be a good thing for the community in the long run, but is not sure what to expect for day-to-day operations until September.

“It’s just kind of all new to us,” Stockton said. “How we need to schedule, how many patrons are still going to make it through and all that good stuff. I really don’t know.”

To Freeman, the project is just as much about protecting Millwood’s future as it is about improving the Argonne corridor. The town has a deep history, Freeman said, and he wants to ensure it remains an attractive place to live and do business as the broader region continues to grow.

“We’re surrounded on three sides by the Valley, the eighth largest city in the state of Washington,” Freeman said. “We have an urban growth area of more residents on the north side of the bridge from us than we have in this city. We need to make sure that we are viable, vibrant and forward thinking as to what we can do.”