EDMONDS — For years, visitors and residents alike have complained about the convergence of train, ferry and car traffic that causes backups and sometimes significant delays in getting to the city’s waterfront.
Now the public will get its chance to say what they’d like to see happen to solve the problem during a meeting scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Edmonds Library. The discussion will focus on the steps involved in a study now under way on how to solve the problem of moving traffic around the city’s two downtown railroad crossing at Main and Dayton streets.
A 12-member advisory group, appointed by Mayor Dave Earling, is expected to make a recommendation by January 2017 on solutions. The first thing the group wants to do is hear from the public, said Mike Nelson, a member of the advisory committee and an Edmonds City Council member.
“We don’t have a list of the alternatives,” Nelson said. “It’s an opportunity for the public to get in on the early stages.” Wednesday’s meeting will help develop a list of potential solutions the group will evaluate, Nelson said.
Some of the suggestions that have been made are an overpass, an underpass, a tunnel or a trench to allow trains to get through the downtown area and to prevent delays in access to the waterfront by the public and emergency responders.
Attendees will meet in groups to discuss solutions and also can meet one-on-one with members of the advisory group, Nelson said. The city estimates up to 40 trains pass through each day, blocking access to the waterfront for about 90 minutes.
By 2030, that number could increase to up to 100 trains a day. And each year some 3.8 million people either drive or walk onto the Edmonds-Kingston ferry. They have to cross the tracks to do so.
The city sent out 25,000 fliers to residents to alert them to the meeting, the most the city has ever sent out on any project, Nelson said.
Edmonds has a total of $690,000 to spend on the traffic planning project. The state kicked in $500,000, the city $100,000, $25,000 came from the Port of Edmonds, $50,000 from BNSF Railway, $5,000 from Community Transit and $10,000 from Sound Transit.
Tetra Tech, a Seattle consulting firm, has been hired to work with the advisory group. The firm also will work with four other companies in tasks such as engineering, environmental reviews, railroad issues, and the design of whatever plan is finally adopted.
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A public meeting of the Edmonds Waterfront Access Study group is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Plaza Room on the second floor of the Edmonds Library, 650 Main St. The study group wants to hear from the public on their ideas for short- and long-term solutions to moving traffic around the street-level rail crossings at Main and Dayton streets. More information: Call the city’s Public Works Department at 425-771-0235 or check the city’s website www.edmondswa.gov/community-services/alternatives-analysis.html
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