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July 10, 2021 4:44 PM Associated Press
EDMONDS, Wash. (AP) New renovations will allow threatened salmon species to return to Lunds Gulch at Meadowdale Beach Park in Edmonds, Washington.
After a decade of planning, construction has begun on renovations at the waterfront park to create a 1.3-acre pocket estuary that will bring back Chinook, chum and coho salmon, as well as cutthroat trout, the Everett Herald reported.
The centerpiece of the renovations is a five-span railroad bridge that will create a 90-foot (27-meter) opening for the creek to flow through. It will replace a six-foot (1.8 meter) culvert a hobbit-sized tunnel to the beach for visitors who make the trek down the ravine trail.
The project will open the river to returning salmon and make beach space available to park goers. Author: Michael Crowe Updated: 5:48 PM PDT July 9, 2021
EDMONDS, Wash. Local and federal officials celebrated the start of work on a new project to help salmon in Snohomish County Friday.
The project, on Lunds Gulch Creek in Edmond’s Meadowdale Beach Park, addresses a fish obstruction that has been there for decades – a small tunnel under the BNSF rail line just off the waterfront.
Thanks in part to a $3.5 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), work is underway to replace the tunnel with a 110-foot raised trestle, and expand riparian habitat within the park.
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: July 9, 2021 362
Standing on the Meadowdale Beach Park shoreline, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (left) and Snohomish County Project Manager Logan Daniels discuss the restoration work. Daniels said she felt “honored to be part of a project where we can restore the land back to where it wants to be.”
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell along with several state, county, local and tribal leaders got a closer look at the Meadowdale Beach Park estuary restoration project Friday afternoon. The project will restore a historic 1.3-acre estuary to provide essential rearing habitat for chinook, chum and coho salmon as well as cutthroat trout. Puget Sound chinook salmon are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.