Road through Japanese Gulch? Mukilteo considers extending Seaway Boulevard to the waterfront

Published 10:06 am Monday, March 31, 2008

MUKILTEO — A decade ago, city leaders and residents were divided over building a road down the middle of Japanese Gulch.

There’s a new plan on the table, but the old concerns remain.

The Mukilteo City Council is split over a proposal to extend an existing road from the Boeing Freeway to the city’s waterfront, giving commuters an alternative route to the Mukilteo ferry terminal.

Under the most recent proposal, referred to as the Seaway Boulevard extension, the new road would run parallel to the gulch on its eastern side. The road would only drop into the northern end of the gulch, right before the gulch opens up at the waterfront.

However, as was the case in the late 1990s, some council members believe the road would be too expensive, harmful to the environment and possibly unnecessary.

“It was definitely divisive back then, and I think it’s just as divisive now,” said Councilman Kevin Stoltz, who opposed the previous road plan before he joined the council.

“There are still a lot of people who believe there should be a road down Japanese Gulch, and it’s because everyone has been led to believe it’s either that or it’s going to be a disaster in the future,” he said.

The divide among council members was evident at a recent meeting when the City Council was split on whether to block Mayor Joe Marine from working on the Seaway Boulevard extension. With Council Chairman Randy Lord absent, Marine cast the deciding vote, allowing himself to pursue the plan further.

Days earlier, Marine had accompanied state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond on a tour of Mukilteo, including a drive down Seaway Boulevard, the cornerstone of the new plan. Hammond expressed interest in the latest proposal and said she would support a study of whether the proposed road extension would be feasible.

Had Lord been at the recent meeting, he likely would have voted the same as the mayor did, he said.

Although Lord is against building a road through the gulch, he doesn’t think people should think about the old idea when discussing the new plan, he said.

“I think it’s part of the discussion because there’s so much history there,” Lord said. “What I’m trying to do is separate it.”

Mukilteo resident Pat Kessler, a local activist who lives on the west edge of the gulch, sees the Seaway Boulevard proposal as a “very different plan” than the earlier proposal to build through the gulch.

However, the two plans would face similar complications on the north end of the gulch, she said. As in the old plan, a new road would still have to cross over or under Fifth Street and then cross over the railroad tracks on the waterfront. That would require costly tunnels or overpasses, or both, she said.

Also, the north end of the gulch is its most ecologically sensitive area, Kessler said.

“I just don’t see why we need to tear up Mukilteo to accommodate the ferry riders from Whidbey Island,” she said. “I think (Washington State Ferries) might come up with more creative solutions.”

Councilman Richard Emery, who led the Save Japanese Gulch citizens group before being appointed to the council earlier this year, said the idea to extend Seaway deserves to be studied.

Emery said he is against building a road through the gulch, but he is trying to keep an open mind.

“It deserves study, but it’s going to take a lot to convince me that a road all by itself will be a necessary solution to the alleged volumes of traffic that are being expected,” he said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.