ARLINGTON – On warm summer days, scores of cars park along the shoulders of Jordan Road.
They block driveways, squeeze into narrow spots between cars and occasionally parallel park behind legally parked cars. Unable to walk on the shoulder, parents and children march hand-in-hand along the road on their way to the bridge at the intersection of Jordan Road and 143rd Avenue NE.
Perched precariously on the edge of ravines or in front of homes, these cars are more than a nuisance. To many nearby residents, they’re a safety hazard. The bridge has six spots designated for parking.
On sunny weekend days, hundreds often visit the spot, halfway between Granite Falls and Arlington. They walk on the suspension bridge. They play in the cool, green water of the Stillaguamish River. And they park wherever they can find a spot.
Dusti Moore, who lives two-tenths of a mile from the park, says 100 to 150 vehicles clog the roads around the park on warm weekends.
“Last Sunday it was wall-to-wall, bumper-to-bumper cars as far as you can see,” said Moore, as she walked along her road last week.
She wants something done. And she’s not alone.
Moore and other neighbors say they’ve complained to Snohomish County officials and park rangers to no avail. Donna Ambrose, spokeswoman for County Executive Aaron Reardon, says the county has not received any complaints.
Moore said a county employee told her that parking is so bad, the bridge may be shut down.
But Ambrose said closing the bridge is not an option. Snohomish County owns the parking spots and the bridge, but the Department of Natural Resources owns the land that borders the river. Consequently, the county can’t close the bridge, she said.
She would, however, like people to stop using it for recreation.
Though the Jordan Road bridge is listed on the county’s online park directory as a riverfront park, Ambrose said it is not an official county park.
The bridge was built to provide people living in a residential development on one side with an alternate route to the rest of the world. The parking spots and bridge should only be used by those residents in emergency situations, she said.
Yet the county Web site describes the area at the bridge as a “small park” that features a river swimming area, portable restrooms and picnic tables. “A path leads to the river shore where visitors can swim and relax during the summer,” the site reads.
Ambrose said she’ll evaluate the Web site and could make changes.
Instead of playing at the bridge, the county is encouraging people to travel five miles south to River Meadows Park at 20416 Jordan Road. Ambrose said the county will also ask park rangers to make extra patrols in the area and ticket illegally parked cars.
Moore is tired of waiting.
Overcome with heat and frustration, she posted signs and opened a pasture beside her house offering parking spots for $5. She’s had limited success: 40 cars one day, none the next. She says she’d love to turn her business over to the county in order to make her neighborhood a safer place for pedestrians.
“One of these days it’s going to be me and my daughter who are hit because of all the cars,” said Moore, who is taking the summer off from her job as a quality inspector for the aerospace industry to care for her daughter.
Robin and Rick Eberharter run a dog boarding and grooming business out of their home, kitty-corner to the bridge. Like most residents, they want the bridge to stay open but are tired of its visitors blocking their driveway and tearing down their “no parking” signs.
“We feel like our hands are tied,” said Robin Eberharter, as dogs yapped in her front yard. “It’s like: Cope with it; deal with it.”
Her husband added, “This is something the county at the upper level needs to address.”
Ambrose said she’s working on it.
The county may add signs around the bridge specifying that it’s not meant for recreation.
In the meantime, if residents aren’t satisfied, she said they should send complaints to the Snohomish County Parks Department, 6705 Puget Park Drive, Snohomish, WA 98296.
Comments can also be sent through the county’s Web site at www.co.snohomish.wa.us by clicking on “contact us” at the bottom of the home page.
“We certainly share concern for the neighbors up there, and we don’t want to see them inconvenienced,” Ambrose said. “We do nothing to encourage the use of that area, and we’ll do everything we can to restrain it that is legal.”
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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