WOODINVILLE, Wash — Woodinville is a paradise for wine lovers. People come from all over the world to take in the fresh air and enjoy 120 gorgeous wineries.
One thing they’re not expecting to experience is a garbage dump.
The current transfer station for northeast King County is in Kirkland. It processes 150,000 tons of waste every year, and that amount is expected to grow as the population does. The current station, however, is 60 years old, out of date and in need of replacement.
Right now, three locations are under consideration: an expansion of the current facility just north of Bridle Trails State Park, the conversion of an underused Kirkland park and ride on 116th Street NE, and the Woodinville location at 16111 Redmond-Woodinville Road.
John Bigelow owns JM Cellars, which sits less than half a mile from the Woodinville site. He isn’t worried so much about the noise and smell of a transfer station as he is the traffic.
Bigelow said plans are already underway to build 88 townhomes nearby. If you add in summer concerts at neighboring Chateau Saint Michele and then a fleet of garbage trucks and he sees nothing but headaches.
"Frankly, I totally understand the need for a transfer station, but we’ve got a traffic problem, right now. I can’t imagine what it will be like if we have a transfer station," said Bigelow. "I look at it from the perspective as someone who has to use the transfer station. Waiting two hours for a concert to empty out so I can get there on a weekend would be miserable."
A petition is now circulating to block the project from coming to Woodinville.
King County Solid Waste Director Pat McLaughlin said the pros and cons of all three sites will be considered during a lengthy public process before it goes online in 2027.
He added that any new facility will have 1/3rd fewer trucks going in and out than the current Kirkland facility.
"The reason we’re able to do that and reduce truck traffic by a 1/3rd is because we’re able to compact the waste in the modern station," said McLaughlin. "The modern station is not your father’s station or ‘the dump’ as it was referred to back then. There are actually quite a few benefits to having a transfer station nearby, including new jobs and your rates might even go down."
A perennial glass half full kind of guy, Bigelow said he believes tourists will outweigh trash in Woodinville.
"This is a beautiful place. We’re a destination," he said. "I’m hopeful the transfer station will be placed somewhere else."