City needs to build for trains

There have been a number of articles over the last couple of months about the congestion caused by train traffic in Marysville. The tone of all the articles is that it is the fault of increased train traffic, because “the main BNSF North-South line runs through the heart of Marysville.”

A far more correct statement would be — the train/vehicle problem lies with the town’s decision to build the town along the track, and allowing an at-grade crossing on every street. If the city founders had one lick of sense they would have built an access road on each side of the track and had an overpass or underpass at specific spots. Just as they would have been required to do with a freeway (look at I-5 that runs parallel to train tracks). It is a solution that must be done now, although more expensive than if they had done it originally. Remember, the train tracks have been there for over 100 years; Marysville is a new kid on the block.

Curt Young

Snohomish