Marysville traffic: Fourth Street repaving begins

Published 11:10 pm Sunday, June 15, 2008

MARYSVILLE — It’s going to be harder to get in and out of downtown Marysville this summer, especially at night.

Lane closures and detours will be in effect while the state digs up and repaves the one-third-mile section of Fourth Street between State Avenue and I-5. Work was scheduled to begin Sunday night and to go into September.

The city of Marysville also plans to replace two small, aging water mains during the roadwork.

The job will take place between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights westbound and 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. eastbound.

At least one lane in each direction will remain open at all times, according to the state. Fourth Street along the stretch currently consists of two lanes in each direction and a left-turn lane.

Drivers should also expect occasional nightly closures of the ramps to and from northbound and southbound I-5 in Marysville as crews pave at the base of the ramps.

Denise Jefferson of Lake Stevens said she’ll find another way to go.

“It’s awfully congested,” said Jefferson, 51, referring to the street in its normal state, without construction.

Fourth Street is also Highway 528, a state highway. Drivers make about 28,000 trips per day on the roadway, according to Jeff Massie, assistant city engineer for Marysville.

That’s one reason the road needs to be repaved, officials say. The pavement between Cedar Avenue and I-5 is in such bad shape that instead of doing a standard repaving, crews will dig down more than 1 1/2 feet and essentially rebuild the roadway, Massie said.

City officials decided this would be a good time to replace the water mains, he said. One main, 6 inches in diameter, was installed in 1954. The other, 12 inches in diameter, was laid in 1970. Both are cast iron, considered a brittle material by modern standards, and too small for the demand being placed on them today, officials said.

The project is expected to cost about $2.3 million: $900,000 in city money to replace the mains and the rest from the state.

The city of Marysville’s Strawberry Festival takes place this week. There will be no lane closures during the Strawberry Festival, the Homegrown Festival Aug. 8-9, or the grand opening of the Tulalip Hotel sometime in August, according to the state.

The area also draws heavy traffic leading up to the Fourth of July, as fireworks enthusiasts head to the Tulalip Indian Reservation’s Boom City.

During lane closures throughout the project, drivers will be detoured to First Avenue, which goes under I-5 to the reservation.

Alesia Jefferson, 26, Denise Jefferson’s daughter, said she thinks the repaving is a good idea but would like to see some long-term congestion relief on the street.

“If we had another alternate route to the freeway, or another onramp to the freeway, that would be great,” she said.

Last year the city began a study of what to do about traffic around Fourth Street and I-5. Reconfiguration of the interchange is a possible remedy.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.