Dozens of trucks and boat trailers are parked at the Ridgefield boat launch on a warm April day, when back-ups at the launch leave people waiting to head out or return from trips. (Natalie Behring/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
RIDGEFIELD — As the temperature continues to rise, use of the Ridgefield boat launch will continue to increase, placing a premium on nearby parking.
While there is a paved lot at the boat ramp, at the west end of Mill Street, there are about 40 spots there for cars with trailers, according to Port of Ridgefield CEO Brent Grening. Right near the launch, there’s a grassy area people can use to park. And should the 100 or so spots there fill up, guests can park in a grassy portion of North Railroad Avenue, which is across the train tracks on Mill Street.
Grening said the two auxiliary lots don’t fill up, even on nice days when it’s possible to see around 150 boats take off from the launch.
However, with changes to Ridgefield planned, underway and also under consideration, some are concerned the already crowded boat launch might see an increase in visitors with a slowed-down parking process. “If they don’t provide expanded parking to what they have now, there are going to be a lot of frustrated people who can’t use the launch,” said Rick Grenz, a lifelong Ridgefield resident who has used the boat launch since 1956.
Grenz is most concerned about the Port of Ridgefield’s Pioneer Street Railroad Overpass Project. The port received final funding in February and plans to kick off construction next year. The $14 million project — which will build an overpass above the railroad tracks connecting Pioneer Street to the port’s property, making it easier to get from downtown to the waterfront area — is expected to finish sometime in the second half of 2018.
The overpass will close down access to the waterfront on Mill Street, and Grenz is worried that it will add a lot of time to someone’s trip from the boat launch to parking on North Railroad if the person has to go through town first.
Grening agrees that it will be a bit tougher for people to park in that area, but he isn’t too worried about it.
“It will change how you exit and enter the site,” he said of the overpass. “It really doesn’t change the amount of parking. What it does do is, the ancillary parking we have on the east side of the railroad will not be easy access. Being that no one used it — I haven’t seen anyone use it this year — we still have plenty of parking.”
Part of the backup and traffic is to be expected at a boat launch, especially on nice days during fishing season and warm summer days.
“At busy times, boaters need to understand that public launches are going to be crowded,” Grening said. “Leave a little bit of extra time. We have ample parking down here.”
James Fronsdahl, a Vancouver resident, uses the boat launch about a dozen times a year, and said he tries to get to the launch before the crowds.
“Every ramp is crowded this time of year,” he said. “I’ll get here sometimes at 5:30 in the morning.”
John Monahan, a Ridgefield resident, also said the key is to get there early. He uses the boat ramp six to eight times a year, and said he tries to get there a half-hour before sunrise. However, he thinks the launch needs more spots.
“If the fishing’s hot, there’s not enough parking,” he said.
Another issue that could impact parking down at the waterfront is what might happen if the port develops the area as a multi-use space, which would most likely bring in more people to the area.
“As the waterfront develops and downtown revitalizes, parking is something we have discussions about with the port and downtown merchants on a regular basis,” said Ridgefield City Manager Steve Stuart.
“If you’re bringing people to the downtown waterfront area, you need places for them to park.”
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Stuart and Grening both said the city and port will work to come up with a plan for parking at the boat launch once construction on the overpass starts, so they don’t go back to a situation where cars with large boat trailers are parking downtown.
When cleanup was going on at the port property at the waterfront, parking was even tighter, which led to boaters parking their vehicles in town.
“Over the past couple of years, as the work on the waterfront has wrapped up, we’ve seen very little overflow parking on city streets,” Stuart said.
Even if more spots are added somewhere, there are still other issues that will affect the boat ramp, like people.
“The biggest problem is, people are jerks,” said Becca Neville, manager of Ridgefield Kayak, which sits on a dock right next to the boat launch. “That’s the biggest problem, that people aren’t patient.”
For Grening, the biggest issue with the boat launch is making sure people can get there safely, and he feels the changes coming to the area will help do that.
“The No. 1 risk, the biggest danger we have here, is vehicle-train collisions,” he said. “We haven’t had one. With the number of people coming here, it’s important we have uninterrupted access to the site. It’s good for boaters, it’s good for everybody else.”
Adam Littman: 360-735-4518; adam.littman@columbian.com; twitter.com/a_littman
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