Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, September 22, 2007

GUEST COMMENTARY

Poor access makes motocross-park site unworkable

By Bruce Barnbaum

 The proposed location for the Granite Falls Motocross Park entails a minimum of 15 miles of driving from any of the nearest freeway offramps to the site on two-lane roads. The final five miles of road, the Mountain Loop Highway east of Granite Falls, is a winding, mountainous road with steep grades, particularly the long steep grade just prior to the project site known locally as "Sand Hill."

On the Mountain Loop Highway, there is also the narrow Stillaguamish River Bridge, which creates numerous safety problems in itself.

The Mountain Loop Highway beyond Granite Falls is a pocket road with no outlet. The "sometimes" outlet is a dirt road of eight miles, running northward from Barlow Pass toward Darrington, that has been washed out and therefore closed repeatedly. As I write this, the latest washout has kept the road closed for the past four years. In the 18 years I have lived along the highway in the Robe Valley area, washouts have kept that portion of road closed for six of those years, and beyond that, it is always closed in winter (generally November through March or April), meaning that it has been open to traffic much less than half the time over the past 18 years. Under the best of circumstances, the dirt road section of the highway cannot handle any significant volume of traffic successfully. As such the Mountain Loop Highway must be considered a "no outlet" road, with one way in and the same way out.

Should there be a major accident on the Stillaguamish River Bridge, made all the more likely by dramatically increased traffic due to the proposed motocross park, all residents, businesses and visitors would be held hostage on the Mountain Loop Highway until the wreckage is cleared and police investigations have been completed. All emergency services (other than via helicopter) would be immediately shut down.

If the bridge itself were damaged, the entire Mountain Loop Highway, and all its residents, could be immediately isolated. This would be a major disaster. Since most motocross enthusiasts are teenagers and young adults — those with the most notoriously poor driving safety records — the possibility of such scenarios should be raised from that of a possibility to that of a likelihood.

I believe it is unprecedented to place a project that can draw in this number of participants and spectators — especially for major competitive events — in a location accessible only by a single, two-lane road. I believe it is further unprecedented to suggest a facility such as this on a road that has no alternative access or egress most of the time, or one that has no alternative access or egress that can handle large volumes of traffic at any time.

Unless all access roads are made into four-lane roads, and an alternative approach (i.e., a second road with access to the project site) in addition to that of the Mountain Loop Highway can be created, it is virtually unthinkable that a project of this scope, with the potential of creating problems of the magnitude outlined above, can be considered by Snohomish County officials at the chosen location.



Bruce Barnbaum lives east of Granite Falls.
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