Downtown trail is first step in making Stanwood a walkable destination

STANWOOD — Every day, Mayor Sid Roberts walks 5 to 8 miles.

“People know me because I walk,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I walk from one end of town on the hill, all the way to the end of town and back.”

By the end of the year, he’ll have one more walking option: a 1.2-mile stretch between the downtown Stanwood Park and Ride and Hamilton Landing Park on the Stillaguamish River.

By 2030, the city plans to complete the 3.8 remaining miles of the Port Susan Trail, a 5-mile loop extending to Ovenell Park, crossing over Highway 532, to Lovers Road, Heritage Park and back to the park and ride. The trail will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and give views of the Cascade Range, the Olympic Mountains and the Stillaguamish River.

Parks Manager Carly Ruacho said the trail was first imagined about a decade ago after residents shared they wanted more trail options that could welcome cyclists.

In 2016, the city approved its plan, and broke ground on the trail’s first of five phases in 2021.

As part of a flood mitigation project, the city paved the flood berm along Highway 532 that holds the water away from the road. This work cost about $1.1 million.

Two weeks ago, work began on the second phase. Grants from the state Recreation and Conservation Office and the Department of Commerce are footing the bill for the phase’s $1.7 million cost.

The city still needs to figure out the timeline and funding for the last three phases.

Still, this phase is a big step toward Roberts’ goal of making Stanwood a walkable, vibrant city that attracts visitors.

“Stanwood was once seen as kind of a place where people live, not a destination,” Roberts said. “And I see Stanwood more as a destination place that people want to come to and shop and walk and go to restaurants and observe the nature.”

But city officials have heard worries from residents the trail’s location near the human-made Irvine Slough might smell or be unsafe.

The 35-acre pond the trail will loop around, however, is not part of the active wastewater system, city engineer Alan Lytton noted.

It’s only a backup option in case the main system failed.

Lytton said birdwatchers are already frequent slough visitors.

“Maybe a couple times a month, we’ll have a car with three or four people,” he said. “We have a lot of duck, lot of sandpipers, lot of killdeer, lot of river otters, obviously eagles, buffleheads. Whatever bird you can think of.”

A few years ago, birdwatchers there spotted the Vermillion Flycatcher, only seen in Washington eight times, Ruacho said.

Her office is next to the trail, so she’s looking forward to making it part of her lunch break.

A beaver lives on a tree where the trail will intersect with the Stillaguamish River, said Ruacho.

Sometimes while Ruacho walks he’ll slap his tail on the water, reminding her of the nature that surrounds her.

Aina de Lapparent Alvarez: 425-339-3449; aina.alvarez@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @Ainadla.