It's a problem that's growing faster than the solutions that might fix it.

As thousands of island residents and tourists drive on and off the Mukilteo-Clinton ferries each day, it's increasingly harder to manage them along with the local traffic - both vehicles and pedestrians - trying to access waterfront businesses, Lighthouse Park and the Mukilteo train platform.

Lighthouse Park is in the second of a four-phase renovation and is already such a success it frequently runs out of available parking spots on nice weather days.

Last year, according to farmers' market executive director Cherri Paul, some vendors pulled out of the popular market when they couldn't find spots in time to set up their booths, and their customers told them they would find them in Edmonds and Everett where it's more convenient.

The city has implemented paid parking at the park as well as removing several slots formerly used by commuters, which hopefully will free up some spaces for park - and farmers' market - visitors.

It eliminated all but 10 of the 46 double-sized slots allocated to vehicles with boat trailers during the off-season, converting those to 72 regular spots, but those revert back to boating slots in the summer.

The city expects to eliminate all commuter parking from Lighthouse Park in June, and is working on finding a location for a park and ride lot somewhere in the city to accommodate Whidbey residents.

Langley resident Ivan Solkey said commuters are willing to work with the city and to compromise, even if that means parking up in Harbour Pointe and taking shuttles to and from their cars.

"I think I can speak for most commuters when I say that we'd be open to all sorts of comprises," he said. "Just as long as there have been ferry lines, there have been commuters trying to find a place to park.

"We have rented spaces in yards, private driveways, behind schools, along railroad tracks, and behind garages."

All of these places are unlit, dark, and potentially dangerous, he said, not to mention the vandalism and car prowling; Solkey said he's been a victim of both in Mukilteo.

Islanders would be willing to pay for a safe, lit – and preferably patrolled – lot even if it's up the hill, he said.

In an effort to accommodate the growing line of vehicles backing up SR 525, WSF and the City of Mukilteo last year demolished the Buzz Inn restaurant and housing that bordered the holding area, effectively doubling the holding lanes.

More holding lanes helped solve one problem, but in doing so they also created a need for more staffing, one that was only funded last week when 21st District Rep. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) managed to wrangle $100,000 to hire the equivalent of 1.4 fulltime additional personnel to help load the boats that arrive every half hour.

Since the beginning of 2010, WSF hasn't used the holding lanes because the reconfiguration required additional staff to manage local foot and vehicle traffic in between routing ferry commuters.

WSF also is evaluating the traffic light that manages vehicles driving off the boats.  Ideally, it should run on a cycle of two minutes for ferry traffic and 30 seconds to allow pedestrians and vehicles to access Lighthouse Park, waterfront businesses and the train platform.

However, the light often isn't working at all and, when it is, it's set at too long a cycle for those driving on and off the boats.

Mukilteo City Councilmember Kevin Stoltz advocates a pedestrian underpass at the bridge to reroute foot traffic away from the congested and dangerous Front Street intersection. While it's in the design phase, currently there's no money to build it.

Meanwhile, the tank farm continues to sit empty, much to the frustration of city officials, commuters, and the many entities angling for a piece of the prime real estate.

Right now it's still in the control of the Air Force, which apparently is in no hurry to let it go, or to lease it for temporary parking as is allowed under federal law.

"If you want to lock land up forever, let the federal government get their hands on it," Solkey said. "That whole thing is a mess, and the governor and Sen. (Mary Margaret) Haugen should be held accountable for not getting that moving forward."