Island County Roads Get 45 mph Limit, Sparking Strong Opinions

New speed limit signs are posted across Island County roads, and the reaction from some drivers has been anything but measured.

Island County commissioners adopted a maximum speed limit of 45 mph on all county roads earlier this year, along with a series of other changes recommended by traffic engineers following a study three years in the making. The changes apply to county-owned roads on both Whidbey and Camano islands but do not affect state highways or streets within Oak Harbor, Coupeville or Langley.

The response from the public has been fierce, despite the adjustments themselves being relatively modest. Most individual speed limits changed by just 5 or 10 mph, and the overall project was the product of a methodical, years-long engineering review.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon voiced exasperation at a recent meeting over the volume of emails she received complaining about the changes, covering both roads where limits went up and roads where they came down. Many residents claimed the changes were made "without notice," Bacon said, a characterization she pushed back on firmly. Commissioners and the planning department discussed the proposal publicly many times over three years, she noted, sent out notices, and held three public meetings this year alone. The Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record each ran several stories about the proposal in the lead-up to adoption.

The complaints found their way well beyond the commissioner's inbox. Island County Sheriff Rick Felici said he received an unusually large number of emails about the speed limit changes despite his office having no role in setting them. He described one particularly hostile message in which a resident pledged never to follow the new speed limits and expressed hope that certain county officials would die.

The engineering work behind the changes was substantial. County engineers used a new analytic tool to reevaluate every speed limit on county-owned roads across Whidbey and Camano islands, weighing a broader range of factors than had historically informed those decisions, including development density and pedestrian use. The resulting recommendations were what commissioners ultimately adopted.

With the signs now up countywide, the policy is in effect. Whether the volume of public anger translates into any formal challenge to the new limits remains to be seen.