City, state were surprised? Wow

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 26, 2001

This is in response to the story on Page 1 Aug. 14 headlined, “Gridlock cripples Everett.”

I would like to refer to the paragraph that reads, “The extent of the gridlock took state transportation officials and city (Everett) personnel by surprise.”

Frankly, I am appalled that the state and city officials are surprised. Are they not aware there are only two ways to leave Everett going North – Highway 529 and I-5? Have they not been aware for months of the hundreds of cars going north on Broadway to Highway 529 in the late afternoon? What did they think would happen when they closed Highway 529 northbound?

Linda Mullen, Washington state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, was quoted as saying, “I don’t think it’s going to be like this for 39 more days.” What is her solution? A magic wand?

Many of us residents living in the north end of Everett – who are not transportation experts – knew you could not funnel all the traffic easily to I-5 without some planning for an alternate route.

Everett