The Skeeter Daddle Diaries

Now in case you’ve taken up residence under a rock, you’ve probably heard the news. The State is in the preliminary planning stages to build a one mile tunnel under the present Hwy 532 to bypass Stanwoodopolis. Sure, the city is upset, all those potential shoppers who for years were bottlenecked up at the gauntlet of stoplights and figured they might as well turn in to the grocery stores or the Rite Aid while traffic is backed up, they’ll zip right past on the four underground lanes, no exits.
Can’t say I blame them, but hey, they had a century to make their profits with a captive audience and the slogan ‘Shop Local’. A tunnel, ladies and gentlemen, 4 lanes UNDER not only the Stillaguamish, but under all of Stanwoodopolis. Out of sight, out of mind. A win-win for the Camano commuter sick of big box grocery chains, dying strip malls, bad signage and the Twin City Foods Concrete Curtain. Sure it’s an engineering challenge. Sure it costs more than an above ground freeway. But in 2050 dollars, probably what a unit costs in Camano Condos.
Us South Enders want to applaud the State for finally solving the ‘Stanwood Bottleneck’. It’s a good start. But while we’re planning for the future’s highway solutions, why don’t we think a bit more Long Term. The South End, as always, is way out front on the region’s transportation issues. Take the Elger Bay Canal, the Big Dig. Eighty years ago we were advocating a series of locks and dams to connect Port Susan with Saratoga Passage, open up shipping through the South End – South End ISLAND, I might add — to the Mainland from Langley, Greenbank and Coupeville. Lock fees would offset the costs, something the Stanwood Tunnel won’t have. Yet, anyway. No doubt the Legislature will eventually consider tolling the tunnel once commuters are hooked on its advantages.

So call your commissioner, call your state representative, call the lady with the alligator purse, this is our best opportunity to solve more than the Stanwood Sewer Lagoon Seawall Bottleneck. It’s our chance to create shipping lanes, possibly a port for a ferry terminal and definitely a new island for the county and the state. South End Island, a stone’s throw from Camano, a world apart for future tourists. The possibilities are beyond imagination. Don’t let this opportunity slip by. The Tunnel budget can easily be amended to include another transportation fix.

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