Residents cut off after rural road washes out in Marysville

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Residents on a rural road in Marysville are cut off from the region after their road washed out on Friday after rough weather and heavy rains.

The area is in the 6500 block of 12th Avenue Northwest where a section of road near a stream and marshy land completely gave way, leaving a big hole where a road used to be.

Residents say there are still sections washing away, and when KIRO 7′s crew arrived at the scene, they noticed two ladders set up for people to climb down and make their way across steel panels and debris.

Steve Hall, who has lived in the area for nearly three decades, met the KIRO 7 crew and climbed the ladder to talk.

“We either walk across right here, across the two ladder systems, or we can go on a really primitive trail that we turned into a road,” said Hall.

It was not easy for Hall to climb down and cross the rushing water, but he insisted on coming across, hoping more attention on the situation for he and his neighbors may mean a quicker fix to their mess.

He says the overall weather, drenching rain, and some beaver dams that burst apart and clogged the culvert are the reasons the road washed out. Hall said seven homes and nearly two dozen people are cut off and emergency services are cut off from them.

The only way in or out is a trail-turned-road to the north. Hall says that’s an option for residents who can’t walk or have difficulty getting around.

“They’re not in peril, but they’re not able to hike seven-tenths of a mile on a dirt, muddy trail,” said Hall.

Water is still flowing through the washed-out road, and Hall says a fix is complicated by the different layers of ownership. He says the road is private and owned by the residents, the marshland and waterway are owned by the federal government, while the local tribe claims the water.

“It’s a bureaucratic mess, that’s a nice way of putting it,” said Hall.

All of that means Hall will spend Monday on the phone, trying to figure out a fix, all while people are cut off and residents continue to see snow, ice and rain that could keep eroding chunks off the road.

“Never like this, never. We’re going into our 29th year. Right here, this is the worst we’ve ever seen it,” said Hall.

Other neighbors that spoke with KIRO 7 said that waste management services and mail are also cut off from the homes. Several elderly people live in the area who now have zero access to emergency services.

Children are also having to find their way across the steel panels of the collapsed road to get to their school buses. The path that has been carved out to the north is drivable, but four-wheel drive seems to be a necessity for that option due to the muddy, wet terrain.

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