ARLINGTON — Earlier this year, local and state elected officials and business leaders were frustrated — some with each other — about how a new interchange project at Smokey Point had been dropped from the state’s transportation funding package.
Those community leaders are now singing a more harmonious tune.
They got the green light to widen the I-5 overpass on 172nd Street NE to six lanes earlier this week, thanks in large part to the cooperative spirit they had forged.
The group lobbied legislators, wrote grants and even persuaded local businesses to consider taxing themselves.
Those efforts led to $3 million in federal transportation money, another $3 million in a state transportation grant, $750,000 from Arlington and Marysville, and smaller amounts from other contributors.
"I think one of the key factors we did right was we got a bunch of players involved, not just the city," Arlington City Councilman Ryan Larsen said.
The group included elected officials and staff from Arlington and Marysville; business people; county, state and federal legislators; and the Tulalip Tribes.
Many of those entities had proposed other overpass projects to the south.
"It’s much better than fighting or arguing," Arlington Councilwoman Sally Lien said.
"I think the finger-pointing went away when we discovered how we’re small stuff compared to this enormous, enormous task of getting rid of the bottleneck in Everett."
Ryan Larsen’s brother, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., also credited the local impetus, especially from business owners.
"The reason we got any money to get started was local people like Becky Foster, Gigi Burke and others who pushed me to see if there was any federal money available," Rick Larsen said.
Ryan Larsen said Arlington City Councilman Oliver Smith played a key role as well.
The overpass is the first phase of a bigger project to construct a full cloverleaf interchange. For now, building a wider bridge within the next two years should help alleviate traffic tie-ups in Smokey Point.
Lien said city engineer Paul Richart guided the group through the state grant process.
"I think perhaps to a certain extent there’s a lot of gratification to be able to do it ourselves," Lien said. "It’s not our money, but we found it ourselves."
Reporter Scott Morris:
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