EVERETT — Trains are still causing delays for residents of the Riverfront townhomes. A recent blockage left some stranded for more than 1½ hours.
The only access for residents of the new development — between I-5 and the Snohomish River — is from Pacific Avenue. In between Pacific and the entrance to the neighborhood is a rail crossing at Eclipse Mill Road.
Drew McKenna, who moved into one of the townhomes in early March, said she is stuck waiting for trains several times a week.
“Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway attempts to not block public crossings for more than 10 minutes at a time, if reasonably possible,” said Gus Melonas, a spokesperson for BNSF.
“It’s always longer than 10 minutes,” McKenna said.
Currently a gravel road links the townhomes to 41st Street, which emergency vehicles, but not residents, are able to use.
The former landfill site is under an agreement involving the state Department of Ecology, which has limited public access to it. Over a year ago, the state signed off on a fix to allow residents to use the gravel road.
Townhome residents should be granted temporary access soon, said Natalie Quick, a spokesperson for Shelter Holdings, the company developing the land the gravel road runs through.
Paperwork has been finalized with the townhomes’s homeowners association. And now, Quick said Thursday “the process for allowing townhome residents to register and obtain a gate opener” is being established.
She declined to say what delayed access for more than a year after the state approved residents using the road, referring the question to William Lyon Homes, the company that built the townhomes.
Quick said the company also constructed the gravel road.
William Lyon Homes didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Eventually, the road will be paved, becoming Riverfront Boulevard. It will link the townhomes to a future mixed-use complex coming to the former landfill site, just to the south. From there drivers would be able to connect to 41st Street.
Construction on Riverfront Boulevard is set to begin this summer and take about a year to complete, according to Quick.
People who experience blockages greater than 10 minutes should call BNSF at 800-832-5452, according to a spokesperson for the city of Everett.
Lizz Giordano: 425-374-4165; egiordano@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @lizzgior.
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