EVERETT — The Howarth Park pedestrian bridge and beach access will remain closed through July, Everett’s parks department announced Tuesday. The city originally planned to reopen the bridge by Memorial Day.
The bridge and beach access have been closed since May 2015, when a routine inspection uncovered rust and corrosion on the 28-year-old bridge’s steel beams. The city immediately closed the bridge and began work to design repairs.
Permitting issues have slowed the pace of repairs, parks director Lori Cummings said. BNSF Railway owns the right-of-way. The work done above the tracks must be approved to protect workers and the tracks and trains below.
BNSF did not approve the plan in April, and the city’s contractor, Forma Construction, last week submitted a revised plan.
“There’s a series of plans that have been submitted to BNSF, between BNSF and our contractor, they have gone back and forth and revised the track protection plan,” Cummings said.
That’s made it difficult to set a firm reopening date for the park.
“Until we know that bridge work is beginning we’re not prepared to provide an end date,” Cummings said.
The city and Snohomish County are taking advantage of the extended closure to speed up work on the shoreline.
The bridge and beach access were scheduled to close again in mid-September for the county’s Nearshore Restoration Project.
That’s a project intended to improve the marine habitat along 4.5 miles of shoreline between Everett and Mukilteo. That includes removing the bulkhead in Howarth Park and regrading and restoring the beach.
The project was first intended to start in late 2014, but it was delayed because cost estimates came in higher than expected, Cummings said.
With the delay in the bridge repairs, however, the county’s work was moved up to begin in June and run concurrently with the bridge project to minimize the closure times. The shoreline improvements are expected to take four to six weeks to complete.
The hope is that both projects would wrap up at about the same time, Cummings said.
While the bridge and beach remain closed, water access is available at Edgewater Beach in Mukilteo, 1500 First St., and Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, 609 Front St. In addition, the Jetty Island ferry services from 10th Street and W Marine View Drive starts July 5.
Dog-walkers can find other off-leash areas at Loganberry Lane Park, 9201 18th Ave. W, Japanese Gulch, 1301 West Mukilteo Blvd. and Lowell Park, 4605 S Third Ave.
For more information and updates on both projects, go to everettwa.gov/howarthbridge or snocomrc.org/Projects/Restoration/Nearshore-Sediment-Study.aspx.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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