MUKILTEO — People who live in Old Town Mukilteo used to walk to the beach at the end of Japanese Gulch by using the railroad crossing at Mount Baker Avenue.
Not anymore.
The crossing was closed months ago when Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway began moving its tracks to accommodate Sound Transit’s new Sounder station. Now, there are only two ways to get to Old Town’s eastern waterfront — cross the tracks illegally at the former Mount Baker crossing, or take a one-mile detour by walking west to Mukilteo Speedway, crossing the highway’s bridge toward the ferry terminal and then cutting back along the railroad tracks.
Neither choice is acceptable, Councilman Kevin Stoltz said.
“Planning for protecting Mukilteo’s access has not been very good, and now we’re starting to see the results of that,” said Stoltz, who lives in Old Town.
To remedy the situation, Stoltz, Mayor Joe Marine and Councilman Tony Tinsley recently met with an engineer to discuss building a pedestrian bridge linking the waterfront to nearby neighborhoods.
The plan is for the bridge to start on the south side of the railroad tracks — possibly where Loveland Avenue dead-ends into Second Street — and end on the north side of the tracks where Sound Transit plans to build parking for the new Sounder station.
Sound Transit already plans on building a pedestrian bridge as part of the new station, but that bridge wouldn’t link to the nearby neighborhood.
If the city goes forward with building its own bridge, then it could be connected to the Sounder station, Stoltz said.
“We’re going to make that south-side platform strong enough to carry the load of a pedestrian bridge if the city decides to move that project forward,” Robson said. “We continue to be in contact with the city about those ideas.”
In addition to the loss of pedestrian access, vehicle access to the waterfront has also been restricted.
First Street used to run along the north side of the tracks from near the ferry terminal to the Mount Baker Avenue crossing. The road was demolished when the railroad company started its track work, and there are no plans to replace it with a new road.
Construction projects could be happening on the waterfront for years, Stoltz and Tinsley said.
Plans to build a new ferry terminal have been put on hold indefinitely by rising costs, unforeseen construction problems and the discovery of remnants of an ancient American Indian village. Also, a new road will have to be built to give access to the new Boeing Pier near the Mount Baker Avenue crossing.
The city wants to someday build a walkway along the beach, on land that was once an Air Force fuel depot. However, the land has yet to be transferred from the federal government to the Port of Everett.
“There should be access by next summer, but I’ll believe it when I see it,” Tinsley said. “The problem is, that is not anyone’s priority except Mukilteo’s.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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