By John McCallum
Editor 

ADM project would ease truck traffic on First Street

 

Last updated 12/7/2017 at 10:10am

John McCallum

ADM's circulation project would re-direct truck traffic to the east side of the downtown Cheney mill for unloading.

Archer Daniels Midland Agricultural Services has submitted application paperwork and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist information for a proposed project to alleviate truck traffic issues at its mill in downtown Cheney. Comments on the proposal can be made through 5 p.m. Dec. 13.

The project will change how semi trucks transporting wheat to the mill to be turned into flour off load their product. Currently, trucks can be seen lining up on various residential streets around the mill, including along Second Street.

The project once completed would provide a new off-loading location along the alley to the east of the mill and between tracks owned by Eastern Washington Gateway Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Instead of crossing First Street, trucks would enter to the west of the mill and then exit to the east, re-entering First Street near the Willow Springs Motel.


"The intent (of the project) is to reduce the congestion on city streets by getting the queuing and staging on our own property and out of the neighborhoods," ADM project manager Andrew Marchese said.

Marchese said trucks would line up in the reconstructed alleyway to first have their loads "probed" to determine the wheat's grade, then weighed and finally dump their product into a new, 20-foot tall dump shed near a new dump pit conveyor. Two options are being considered, Marchese said, one where trucks enter the site from the west, likely off Cheney-Spangle Road and another where they would enter off First Street through what is now the employee parking lot.


That parking lot would be rebuilt on a portion of the mill's front lawn, requiring the removal of approximately 7,200 square feet of grass and soil. Reconstruction of the alleyway to accommodate increased truck traffic will require removing approximately 2,700 cubic yards of undocumented fill and 40 square yards of existing pavement, replaced with new fill and pavement at a similar grade.

According to the SEPA documents, the project will also require some modifications to First Street at its intersections at B, C and D streets. Currently during harvest season, the mill sees 30-35 truck trips daily during a five-day week. That number drops off significantly during the rest of the year when most of the trips are outbound with flour.

If approved, the construction would begin sometime in the spring or summer of 2018. Marchese said the work would likely take around three months to complete.

Comments can be made to the Cheney Planning Department, 112 Anderson Road or via email to senior planner Brett Lucas at blucas@cityofcheney.org.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/03/2024 07:15