The majority of the Langley City Council is on board with a proposal by the Port of Everett to transform the former Mukilteo ferry lanes into long-term parking.

The council approved a resolution Monday night – brought forth by Councilmember Rhonda Salerno – supporting this proposal.

According to the resolution, the Port of Everett plans to offer 99 parking spaces, including 23 stalls for monthly parking and 63 stalls for 72-hour parking. The facility will be located at 707 Front St., adjacent to Ivar’s restaurant. An Everett Herald article states that the port hopes to open the lot in time for spring.

A lack of long-term parking for Whidbey residents in Mukilteo has long been a gripe. The new lot will have the added benefit of providing a place for guests to park before walking on the ferry to visit people on the island, all while helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from vehicle use.

“This has been kind of the bane of a lot of commuters’ existence,” Councilmember Thomas Gill said.

While supportive of the project, he expressed concern about people with limited mobility being able to move between the parking spaces and the ferry terminal. When the ferry terminal was relocated in 2020, it moved about one third of a mile down the coast.

Councilmember Harolynne Bobis, who works in Mukilteo, said more transportation infrastructure is needed to get from the ferry terminal to deeper into Mukilteo.

“I think this is a fabulous idea if you want to get people out of their cars if there’s public transit on the other side to take them where they need to go,” she said.

For that reason, paired with Gill’s concerns about mobility issues, she abstained from the final vote. The rest of the council voted 4-0 to approve Salerno’s resolution.