Getting there: Who is Clarence Griggs and why is part of Bigelow Gulch Road renamed in his honor?

Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday approved a series of new names for roads surrounding the Bigelow Urban Connector project, including a name that honors a veteran of both world wars. But those changes have done little to assuage concerns expressed weeks ago by nearby residents.

The county spent the summer dynamiting a hillside to lay out a straighter route for Bigelow Gulch Road, which is expected to open next month. The work marks the end of a decades-long project to address safety concerns and increased traffic volumes, and required the renaming of old portions of Bigelow Gulch that are no longer part of the new trace.

The decision on the new names was postponed two weeks ago after Orchard Prairie residents expressed concerns about the options being considered by commissioners. Although some of those concerns have been alleviated, some residents still take issue with what was approved Tuesday.

Commissioners voted unanimously to rename the east turn of the old road to Orchard Prairie Road, which would extend the existing road to the intersection with the new Bigelow Gulch. The western portion of the old road will be Griggs Road, replacing the much-criticized “Lancer Road” that was originally proposed for that portion.

The final name change involves a small section of Bigelow Gulch just west of the current intersection with Weile Avenue, where county officials chose to keep the Newton Road name.

Those in attendance supported the commissioners’ decision not to use “Lancer,” which seemed to be the proposal neighbors most disagreed with. Its replacement – ​​”Griggs Road” – hasn’t really come to fruition either, despite its historical significance to the area and the county as a whole.

Karen Sprague, one of the residents who raised concerns a few weeks ago, said she was happy to see the name Orchard Prairie Road extended because of the name’s importance to the area . That’s the name of the area, and one of the oldest operating schools in the state is Orchard Prairie Elementary School, located along the road of the same name.

“I’m very happy with it,” Sprague said. “Griggs Road does not elicit a loving response from me.”

County Commissioner Josh Kerns proposed Griggs’ name after the suggestion was relayed to him by Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart.

One day the two conservatives were discussing the renaming process, Cathcart thought about it and removed the name from a 2018 article in The Spokesman-Review detailing the Bigelow Gulch project.

Griggs is the last name of the county engineer who helped turn Bigelow Gulch into the thoroughfare it is today. In 1937, he secured about $378,000 in New Deal-era federal funding to pave more than 80 miles of county roads, including Bigelow Gulch, as The Spokesman-Review reported.

“I think it’s a good compromise,” Kerns said. “Again, there’s a connection to the road itself, but a less strong connection to the community, and I understand that.”

He added that the name changes need to happen relatively quickly with the road expected to open soon, something County Commissioner Chris Jordan also noted in expressing support for the changes.

“Mr. Griggs was an integral part of the story of how the old Bigelow Gulch Road came to be during this new era,” Jordan said. “So it’s a significant improvement over where we were, an elegant compromise, and one I’m happy to support.”

Griggs: Army veteran, engineer, city councilman

Newspaper archives shed some more light on Clarence Francis Griggs’ time in the county.

He is credited with the design and creation of “the first unit” of Geiger Field, which served as a military training base during World War II, before Spokane International Airport was established on the same land.

He also designed the first iteration of the Francis Avenue Bridge over the railway tracks at Hillyard and carried out major work on the Wandermere Golf Course. During the winters of 1940 and 1941, Griggs oversaw the plowing of county roads receiving record snowfalls and the rebuilding of those same roads when floods washed them away the following spring.

As the war intensified overseas, Griggs drew on his military experience and assumed the lead role of the county defense council, which sought to train locals and prepare the region for the possibility of war. attack.

Still, the county engineer must have thought he could do more, since he re-enlisted in the Army in August 1943. The county commission granted Griggs a leave of absence from his position so that the former fighter from the First World War can re-enlist as a captain. fight in World War II.

“Commissioner John T. Little, seconded by Commissioners (Wylie) Brown and (CM) Lockwood, expressed the board’s regret at the departure of Captain Griggs but applauded him for his desire to actively participate in the “war effort,” a statement said. Spokane Daily Chronicle article from 1943.

Commissioners then thanked Griggs for his work over the years, saying he was just as valuable as a highway engineer as he was in meetings with legislators. Little credited him with persuading state lawmakers to allocate more gas tax revenue to the county.

“He’s done a good job here, and his departure is a loss for the county and a gain for the Army,” Little told the Chronicle.

Griggs never returned to his role in the county.

While stationed in Maryland as an Army engineer in 1945, Little telegraphed Griggs to see what his plans were after the war. Griggs responded that his plans were “indefinite,” according to the Spokane Daily Chronicle at the time.

Not knowing exactly what that answer meant, the county commissioners chose to fill Griggs’ position. Commissioners said if Griggs returned, they would make him assistant engineer and allow him to keep his old salary of $400 a month until he found another job.

“We did not feel, in the circumstances, that it was necessary to let him have the Griggs job,” Brown told the newspaper. “He was not inducted. He volunteered and was commissioned.

Griggs landed in Pasco upon his exit from the war, where he established his own engineering and surveying firm CF Griggs and Associates. In this capacity, he helped develop the Port of Pasco and the nearby Tri-Cities Airport, according to his obituary.

However, Griggs wasn’t really done with local government. He served on the Pasco City Council for two years, until his death in 1966. He was 68 years old and leaves behind his wife Beryl Griggs, five sons, one daughter and 11 grandchildren.

Attempts to reach his descendants were unsuccessful prior to publication.

“There’s definitely a great story,” Public Works Director Kyle Twohig said. “I’m certainly proud to have a public works-related suggestion for this name change and to have our former county engineer’s name here on this entire corridor.”