The Marysville Cut-Off
By Curt Cunningham

The Marysville cut-off marked a significant milestone for the Pacific Highway. This stretch of road was one of the most important projects undertaken by the state highway dept. in 1926 and 1927. The Pacific Highway between Everett and Marysville was now 4 miles long compared to the old route which was almost 11 miles. The new route consisted of 4 bridges spanning the Snohomish river, Union slough, Steamboat slough and Ebey slough. The new route began in Everett on Rucker Ave. at 52nd Street SE and continued north on Rucker Ave. to Everett Ave., where it turned to the east and followed Everett Ave. to Walnut Street. From Walnut Street the highway continued north to the new bridge over the Snohomish river.

One of the first mentions of shortening the route of the Pacific Highway between Everett and Marysville was on June 20, 1914 when it was announced that the Snohomish county commissioners would ask the next legislature to assist in the construction of 4 bridges over the flats at the mouth of the Snohomish river to shorten the travel distance between Everett and Marysville.

On February 19, 1919 the Spencer bill which provided for the establishment of the Pacific Highway between Everett and Marysville over what was known as the Marysville cut-off and shortening the route by 5.25 miles had been passed by the senate. The measure had already been passed by the house. 

For unknown reasons construction began on the 4 bridges, 4 years after the project was approved, and exactly 4 years before its completion. On August 23, 1923 work began on Smith island to prepare for the construction of the Marysville cut-off.

On June 7, 1925 bids for the 4 bridges on the delta of the Snohomish river for the Marysville cut-off were opened in Olympia and the contract was awarded to J. A. McEachern, of Seattle, for $972,927.30. The next lowest bid was by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Co. of Seattle, at $1,068,344. This was the company that did the grading of the fill over the flats.

This was the largest single contract ever let by the state at the time, and the main bridge, the one over the Snohomish river on the Everett side had cost more than any other bridge built by the state. The bid for this bridge was $506,917, and it is 2,678 feet long, exclusive of approaches. The other 3 bridges, over Steamboat, Union and Ebey sloughs, amounted to less than half the contract. Together with the fills which were completed in 1924, the project cost was close to $1,100,000, and with the concrete surfacing later, the cost of the Marysville cut-off would be almost one and a quarter million. The contractors had till March 31, 1927, to complete the job, and the concrete surfacing of the roadway was completed soon after the bridges were completed.

On October 7, 1926 State Highway Engineer J. W. Hoover showed how paved roads were paying for themselves in the state. Hoover was in Yakima giving a speech and while discussing the Marysville cut-off said that the savings in distance by the new route was 5.25 miles. The July 1926 traffic census reported that 5,590 vehicles traveled between Everett and Marysville. The extra distance traveled by the longer route was 29,347.5 miles. The savings by using the Marysville cut-off would amount to $1,760.85 per day.

On June 10, 1925 State Contract No. 965 which was also Federal Aid Project No. 130-C, was let for the construction of the 4 Everett-Marysville Bridges. The contract called for 4 bridges as follows; Ebey Slough Bridge, 1 - 290-foot steel swing span and 403.7 feet of concrete tee-beam approaches; Steamboat Slough Bridge, 1 - 290-foot steel swing span, 2 - 180-foot steel fixed spans and 136.3 feet of concrete tee-beam approaches; Union Slough Bridge, 580 feet of concrete tee-beams; Snohomish River Bridge, 1- 145-foot steel vertical lift span, 7 - 180-foot and 1 - 140-foot steel fixed spans, and 1,135 feet of concrete girder approaches. These bridges were permanent structures with concrete decks, and have a clear roadway of 24 feet. The Snohomish river bridge provides an overhead crossing over the Great Northern Railway at this point. The 1926 Snohomish river bridge was refurbished in 1994.

The bridge over Steamboat Slough built in 1927 is serving the southbound lanes of SR-529. The second bridge over Steamboat slough was built in 1954 and is a Warren swing bridge. This bridge is 910 feet long and it's largest span is 182 feet and 28 feet wide. This bridge is the northbound lanes of SR-529.

The Ebey Slough Bridge served Snohomish county, Washington, for 85 years before being replaced in 2012. Because the slough is used by boats and barges, the Ebey slough bridge was a swing span that rotated on a mid-slough pivot to clear a channel for vessels. It was a unique swing bridge design and was one of only 4 swing bridges left under WSDOT care down from 16 in 1944. Today there are only 3 swing bridges left, and the Ebey slough bridge was a great example of this bridge type which may not be around on the state highways much longer. The Ebey slough bridge crossed the northernmost of 4 waterways which had complicated travel between the two towns since the earliest days of settlement. 

Dedication ceremonies for the opening of the Marysville cut-off were held on Tuesday August 23, 1927. The procession formed at the Elks' club in Everett at 10 am and the motorcade proceeded to Marysville via the cut-off and arrived at the city park in Marysville at about 11am where the ceremonies were held. At the lead of the procession was a float bearing the famous pioneer rowboat owned by Marysville which was built in 1880.

The cut-off’s importance cannot be overstated. It didn’t improve travel just between Marysville and Everett. It also improved travel on the Pacific Highway between Seattle and points north -- for example, the cutoff reduced travel time by bus between Seattle and Bellingham from over four hours to three and a half hours. The cutoff represented a milestone in the construction of good roads during the 1920s and was a tremendous economic benefit to Marysville as well. The new road helped in the creation of new buildings, and many new businesses sprang up, traffic at existing businesses increased, and overall growth of Marysville accelerated, all thanks to the cut-off.

The Broadway Alignment

In the 1930's the Pacific Highway was undergoing another transition. This improvement of the highway widened the roadway and replaced many of the narrow bridges. New alignments were built which shortened the route even more. Through Everett Walnut Street was bypassed and the Pacific Highway was routed onto Broadway.

The Broadway Cutoff

In 1954, freeway construction had reached the Everett area and that year a 3.4 mile section of the new freeway was opened as an expressway. This section was known as the Broadway cut-off and it began at the intersection of Evergreen Way and Everett Mall Way. The cutoff followed Everett Mall Way as it becomes Broadway, and about a quarter mile north of Beverly Blvd. the road veered to the right onto the freeway's northbound lanes. The cut-off was only 2 lanes until just before 41st Street where it widened to 4 lanes and came out onto Broadway Ave. and continued north through Everett to the Marysville cut-off.

State Route 529

In 1954, the Pacific Highway was in the beginning stages of being fazed out and would be replaced by the freeway in 1969. That year 4 new bridges over the flats were built alongside the current bridges. This made the Pacific Highway a 4 lane roadway between Everett and Marysville. This improvement required a new bridge to be built on the western side of the existing bridge over the Snohomish river. The new bridge is also a vertical lift bridge and is a half mile long. The longest span is 240 feet and is 27.9 feet wide. This new bridge carries the southbound lanes of SR-529.

The completion of the freeway in 1969 between Everett and Marysville bypassed the Marysville cut-off.

In 2010 the Ebey slough bridge stopped opening for floating traffic, and in 2012 it was replaced.