The downtown walking trail is the first step in making Stanwood a walking destination

STANWOOD — Mayor Syd Roberts walks five to eight miles every day.

“People know me because I walk,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I walk from one end of town up the hill, all the way to the end of town and back.”

By the end of the year, he’ll have one walking option left: a 1.2-mile stretch between downtown’s Stanwood Park and Ride and Hamilton Landing Park on the Stillaguamish River.

By 2030, the city plans to complete the remaining 3.8 miles of the Port Susan Trail, a 5-mile loop that will extend to Ovenell Park, across Highway 532, to Lovers Road, Heritage Park and back to the park and ride. The trail will be Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant and will feature views of the Cascade Range, the Olympic Mountains and the Stillaguamish River.

Park manager Carly Ruacho said the idea for the trail came about a decade ago after residents expressed their desire for more bike lanes that welcomed cyclists.

In 2016, the city approved the plan, and in 2021, the first of five phases of the trail began.

As part of a flood control project, the city paved the flood control embankment along Highway 532 that keeps water off the road. The work cost about $1.1 million.

Two weeks ago, the second phase began. Grants from the state Recreation and Conservation Office and the Department of Commerce are footing the bill for the $1.7 million phase.

The city still must determine planning and financing for the final three phases.

Still, this phase is a big step toward Roberts’ goal of making Stanwood a vibrant, walkable city that attracts visitors.

“Stanwood was once thought of as a place where people lived, not a destination,” Roberts said. “And I see Stanwood more as a destination where people want to come to shop, walk, go to restaurants and see nature.”

However, city officials have heard from residents who are concerned about the path’s location near the man-made Irvine Slough, saying it could smell or be unsafe.

However, the 35-acre pond the trail runs around is not part of the active wastewater system, Lytton noted.

It is just a backup option in case the main system fails.

According to city engineer Alan Lytton, bird watchers are already regular visitors to the marsh.

“Maybe a couple times a month we’ll have a car with three or four people,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ducks, a lot of sandpipers, a lot of killdeer, a lot of river otters, obviously eagles, buffleheads. Any bird you can think of.”

A few years ago, birders there spotted the Vermillion Flycatcher, which has only been seen eight times in Washington, Ruacho said.

Her office is next to the path, so she’s looking forward to using it during her lunch break.

There is a beaver living in a tree where the trail crosses the Stillaguamish River, Ruacho said.

Sometimes Ruacho hits the water with his tail as he walks, reminding her of the nature around her.

Aina de Lapparent Alvarez: 425-339-3449; [email protected]; Twitter: @Ainadla.

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