The Herald article, “Local leaders hope to pave reaminder of Mountain Loop Highway,” on Dec. 22 failed to discuss the environmental impacts that paving and required widening of the highway between Barlow Pass and the White Chuck River would have or exactly why the U.S. Forest Service backed away from that plan in the 1990s. Here are just a few reasons not to widen the Mountain Loop Highway:
Pavement will mean higher speeds, wider roads, large radius curves with huge cuts into unstable hillsides, particularly at unstable, landslide prone slopes around milepost 33.6 to milepost 35.6;
Stream geometry near milepost 33.6 and milepost 35.6 makes the road highly susceptible to washout on average once a decade;
There is no riparian buffer between the road and South Fork Sauk River at milepost 33.6 and milepost 35.6;
Petroleum-laden asphalt would wash into the river when the road washes out;
It would endanger chinook salmon redds next to road;
It would disrupt mountain goat habitat and the wildlife corridor;
It raises marbled murrelet, spotted owl, and harlequin duck nesting issues;
It provides no flow control or water quality treatment for increased stormwater runoff;
The Forest Service does not follow best available science for stormwater such as the Ecology Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington, 2012 edition;
Botched construction in 2006 forced the Forest Service to reinitiate consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and forced a 1-year delay in project completion;
Worsening of the unsanitary conditions from “dispersed” campers defecating at roadside campsites, exacerbated by the closing of the Gold Basin Campground because of landslide hazard;
Portions of the Mountain Loop Highway are in the Glacier Peak lahar flood zone and pyroclastic flow zoneand are not a good evacuation route in case of a volcanic eruption;
The highway is closed in winter from Bedal Creek to Deer Creek, it cannot be counted on for year-around emergency access to Darrington;
Snohomish County has no budget to plow the highway beyond the Deer Creek gate;
The Forest Service and Snohomish County have no money construct or maintain the road;
Snohomish County has steadfastly refused to accept the road because of maintenance costs, traffic enforcement costs, and the road is not up to county engineering and development design standards;
Contrary to false claims by Granite Falls and Darrington folks, the Mountain Loop Highway contributes zero to their economy based on sales tax receipts; and
Taxable sales actually increased for both Darrington and Granite Falls when the highway was closed!
Paving and widening a road that washes once a decade so Winnebago’s can drive 40 MPH will harm the environment and squander taxpayer dollars.
Bill Lider is a civil engineer and environmental activist living in Lynnwood.
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