Driving Highway 530: ‘Approach it with … deep respect’

Yellow ribbons and handmade “Thank You” signs hint at what’s ahead. They don’t begin to prepare travelers for passage through the part of Highway 530 surrounded by devastation.

It’s an essential link between Arlington and Darrington. It’s an active work zone. And it is so much more. It will forever be a solemn place.

Drivers passing through may feel compelled to bow their heads. Forty-three people died in the March 22 mudslide, when a mountain gave way along the North Fork Stillaguamish River. One victim, Molly Kristine “Kris” Regelbrugge, has not been found.

Pulling over or taking eyes off the road isn’t possible in the 25-mile-an-hour no-stopping zone. On Friday, the slide area was busy with work crews, commuters, log trucks and cars carrying bicycles.

“Approach it with reverence, humility and deep respect,” said Tim Serban, who spent a week at Oso just after the slide as a volunteer coordinator for the American Red Cross Spiritual Care Disaster Response Team. “It bears the scar of a community’s loss, of families’ pain,” he said.

The road opened to two-way traffic May 31. Visitors should remember “this is a sacred place of loss, and of memory,” Serban said. “It’s where people died. It’s where loved ones last lived.”

Serban is chief mission integration officer for Providence Health &Services, Oregon Region. He was formerly director of mission integration and spiritual care at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

His description of the slide zone is being echoed by Snohomish County. A photo of Highway 530 labeled “SR 530 Remember, This Site Is Sacred” will appear on a Facebook page that is part of the county’s Visit Stilly Valley campaign.

Wendy Becker, the county’s cultural and economic development manager, said the campaign to promote tourism in Arlington, Oso and Darrington is part of an economic recovery effort for the region. The county received a $150,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce for the tourism push.

Becker said it’s important to show sensitivity to grief, even while encouraging the tourism dollars needed to help the area recover. “Some folks have very strong feelings that people shouldn’t be driving there at all. But people really do want to go and offer their pocketbooks to help,” she said.

Travis Phelps, a state Department of Transportation spokesman, said there are signs telling Highway 530 drivers the speed limit and warning that they can’t stop in the slide area. “People understand that this is not a tourist attraction. Be respectful,” he said.

Respect begins with following the law. Drive through, don’t walk on the site, and take nothing from it.

“Saying a quiet prayer is appropriate,” Becker said.

It’s not a tourist attraction, but Snohomish County is in very early planning stages for a memorial along Highway 530.

“Families are really driving this process,” said Russ Bosanko, Snohomish County Parks &Recreation division manager of park operations and community partnership. He said that Tom Teigen, the county’s parks director, has talked with several families who lost loved ones to find out what they want to see as a memorial. Teigen, he said, hopes to hear from other families as planning moves forward.

Snohomish County parks officials have also been in touch with the National Park Service, which oversees the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

That memorial commemorates 40 crew members and passengers of an airliner hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, the day other planes destroyed the World Trade Center and hit the Pentagon. United Airlines Flight 93 passengers thwarted the terrorists’ goal of hitting a target in Washington, D.C. when they crashed the plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t until a decade after the attacks that the Flight 93 National Memorial was dedicated. Although managed by the parks service, its website makes clear that the memorial is a place for quiet reflection. The crash site itself is accessible only to victims’ families.

Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, killing 57 people. Yet the original visitors center near what is now Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument didn’t open until 1993.

Bosanko said planning for an Oso slide memorial could take years. Normally, public meetings are involved in park development. “With this, it will definitely be driven by the families, what they want to see,” he said.

Snohomish County has property in the slide zone, an access point for the Whitehorse Trail. That could be used for an Oso memorial, Bosanko said.

At a community meeting in Oso late last month, some survivors of the mudslide said they won’t be ready to talk about a memorial until Regelbrugge is found.

“A great tragedy happened,” Serban said. “I’m hoping people don’t just come and look. I hope they come with a sense of bringing the love and care of the American people to a place of great loss, courage and resilience of a community.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Get involved

People who lost family members in the Oso mudslide and who want to participate in planning a memorial at the site are encouraged to call Snohomish County Parks &Recreation Director Tom Teigen at 425-388-6617 or email: tom.teigen@snoco.org

For information on Snohomish County’s Visit Stilly Valley campaign: www.snohomish.org/explore/stilly-valley and www.facebook.com/visitstillyvalley

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.