SMOKEY POINT — First they got mad, then they got organized.
Now they think they can have a new overpass within two years.
Community leaders in this fast-growing mix of two cities and several unincorporated communities say they thought the need to rebuild 172nd Street NE’s I-5 overpass was at the top of everyone’s list.
After all, fire trucks can barely get through the intersection during commuting hours. The wait to get through the intersection and onto southbound I-5 often lasts longer than half an hour on most afternoons.
There’s a constant stream of fender-benders as frustrated drivers try to squeeze through backed up intersections.
Marysville, Arlington and county planners are all considering restricting growth because the region’s roads are too choked with traffic.
Fred Meyer and several other big stores have wanted to build here — but have walked away for traffic reasons.
Long recognized as a problem, the state Department of Transportation has had the $30 million bid to rebuild the overpass on its to-do list for 10 years. It was even fully funded once, until a voters’ initiative took the money away.
So community leaders were shocked when the overpass project didn’t make it on to the list of projects funded by the $4.2 billion nickel-a-gallon gas tax increase that went into effect July 1.
"We were led to believe any transportation bill would have us on it," said Becky Foster, a business owner and community activist located in Marysville side of Smokey Point. "When we heard they were going to archive us, it nearly made all of
our hearts stop."
Upset at being left out, business owners and local leaders formed Marysville-Arlington Transportation Relief Action Plan earlier this month, a Smokey Point group that believes it can have a new overpass built by 2005.
"All we have to do is get the funding," said Harvey Eichenfeld, TRAP co-chairman and a business owner whose customers are being chased away by the daily traffic backups.
Earlier this month the group convinced state transportation officials to back off from their requirement that the overpass be rebuilt all at once.
Instead, the state will move forward with building a new six-lane overpass, with construction starting as soon as next summer and the link opening in the second half of 2005.
The big catch: TRAP must convince someone to come up with the $6.5 million to build it.
"We told them that this is an alternative project that can be built, but you need to provide the funds," said Pat McCormick an engineering manager for the state transportation department in Snohomish County.
The members of TRAP aren’t saying where they hope to get the money from, other than that they are lobbying federal sources. They also said business owners in the area would be willing to pay an impact fee if they knew it was going to be spent on their overpass.
"We’re working on locating the money," Foster said. Eichenfeld added that they hope to have it secured within two months, if not sooner.
Optimism is running high among TRAP members, who say support has snowballed since word got out that the overpass didn’t make the gas tax cut.
"It’s about people pulling together and having a common goal," said Gigi Burke, TRAP co-chairwoman, and owner of a major distribution company located in Smokey Point. "We all have different issues, but this has pulled us together."
If TRAP is successful, then the state would finish the intersection improvements as money becomes available, McCormick said.
The improvements include widening access ramps and building a cloverleaf ramp for westbound traffic going south on I-5, the main direction traffic backs up at the intersection.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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