Published August 2003

Coalition forms to spur progress on I-5 overpass
at Smokey Point

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

It can’t wait!

That’s the message from a new coalition of government and business leaders in Marysville and Arlington.

They say that solving the traffic congestion at the Smokey Point interchange on I-5 can’t wait or it will ruin the business climate in much of north Snohomish County, even affecting the development of the Tulalip Tribes’ giant destination casino, conference center and entertainment hub.

The group — known as the Marysville-Arlington Transportation Relief Action Plan (TRAP) at Smokey Point Coalition — was formed early in July to respond to the recent revelation that the long-awaited expansion and upgrading of the 172nd Street NE overpass had been passed over for funding in the last session of the state Legislature.

The coalition includes the cities of Arlington and Marysville; the Greater Arlington, Smokey Point Area and Greater Marysville Tulalip chambers of commerce; and individual business and property owners.

“We have a chronic congestion problem here that is severe,” said Gigi Burke, a Crown Distributing Co. executive who is co-chairing the group with Harvey Eichenfeld, a Smokey Point business owner who is also president of the Smokey Point Area Chamber of Commerce.

Developer Bill Binford of Venture Pacific Land Corp., a member of the group, said his research has found a list of stalled projects planned for north county that could generate nearly a billion dollars in annual sales if they were developed.

“But they’re not happening because traffic congestion in the area is a quagmire and getting worse rapidly,” he said. “We have a couple thousand jobs with an annual payroll of $600 million a year that’s in jeopardy. There are 92,000 cars a day through there on the freeway and 33,000 on 172nd, which has six lanes narrowing to two at the freeway.”

Becky Foster, co-owner of Bruce and Becky’s home furnishings business in Smokey Point, said the congestion can hamper emergency services. “You can’t get a ladder truck across the overpass, or an ambulance or police car, when it’s jammed with traffic.”

According to Burke, Binford and Foster, they’re getting a lot of support from local and state government officials, including mayors and legislators, to get the problem solved. The state Department of Transportation has been very involved and helpful in this latest push to solve the traffic problem with a remodeled overpass.

“We’re all pulling on the same end of the rope up here,” said Foster. “WSDOT is thinking outside the box for alternative solutions at lower cost and a phased approach to solving the problem.”

Under current WSDOT programs, the overpass improvements, even if funding were to be approved by the Legislature in its next session, would not be constructed until 2007. Unfunded construction costs are currently estimated to be $26 million.

However, the TRAP coalition is working on developing interim solutions to the traffic gridlock until the total improvements can be constructed.

Already, the coalition has spurred interest in what they call Alternate 2 of the interim solutions they have studied. Instead of costing more than $20 million over several years, the alternate plan would cost only $6 million for a new six-lane bridge, new lighting signals to improve traffic flow and a two-lane turn from the bridge onto I-5.

“We’re gaining more and more support for this plan,” Binford said.

On July 16, the Snohomish County Council added its support to an interim solution, voting 5-0 to pass a resolution backing “creative and innovative efforts to promote an accelerated and reduced-cost first-phase proposal for the interchange project” and encouraging public agencies and private interests to work together to secure funding.

The following day, Herman Williams, chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, issued a letter to national, state and local government agencies, saying the tribes and Quil Ceda Village were in support of the $6 million alternative.

Calling the current road system an impediment to efficient traffic movement and the timely passage for emergency-aid vehicles, Williams said the tribes and Quil Ceda Village “provide a strong affirmative nod in support of this urgently required project.”

Binford said that with 80 percent of the design already in place by WSDOT, the alternative route could be designed, built and in use by the fall of 2004 or early 2005.

Those wanting to learn more about TRAP can call Eichenfeld at 360-651-2651 or Burke at 360-925-4900.

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