FERNDALE, Wash. – Three Ferndale City Council members say it would only be proper to name the new Thornton Overpass for late state Senator Doug Ericksen.
Jon Mutchler, a former Ferndale mayor, Erin Gunter and Herb Porter have introduced the proposal to the city council.
Mutchler says Ericksen’s tenacity helped secure $20 million in state funding for the long-awaited overpass.
“He fought for that project and everybody gives him credit for it,” said Mutchler. “It just seems fitting, not the whole road, but to name the bridge part of it after the late senator for his hard work for Ferndale.”
Ericksen was an outspoken Republican and Mutchler agrees that he didn’t shy away from sparring with the opposition.
“We’re fully aware he was controversial but if you got to know him, whether you were left, right or center, he was a good, decent guy,” said Mutchler. “And, doggonit, we miss him around here.”
Senator Ericksen died last December after a bout with COVID-19.
The Thornton Street Overpass will provide another much-needed access route from I-5 to Ferndale when it opens next year.
Listen to the full interview with Jon Mutchler on our Podcast page.