‘Walk to Save Langley’ hopes to raise awareness on controversial issue

LANGLEY — Craig Cyr, an outspoken supporter of Fairgrounds Road, is taking his citizen activism to the streets — literally.

He will lead a group of people on a “Walk to Save Langley” demonstration on Saturday to raise awareness about the proposed road.

The proposed city street has been highly controversial, and has been a subject of friction between the city of Langley, Island County commissioners and the Island County Fair Association.

The city has been battling county and fair officials for an easement across the southern tip of the fairgrounds. Called Fairgrounds Road, the proposed city street is at the center of a condemnation lawsuit in Superior Court between the city, county and fair association.

The road is designed to ease traffic from the Highlands, a 53-home development which started construction this week, as well as future development in the area.

Faced with the prospect of trucks running through their narrow neighborhood streets, some residents have been pressuring county, city and fair officials for months to resolve their differences on the new road.

Front and center in this campaign is Langley resident Cyr. He said the walk on Saturday will help people understand what’s at stake.

“For me, it’s another way to make the point that Langley is fed up with Island County commissioners not granting the easement. Having citizens walk the streets will be one part symbolic and another part educational,” Cyr said.

“If citizens walk the pedestrian corridors of Langley that would be affected by not granting the easement, they will become more educated about the impact on the community and the Island County Fair,” he added.

The walk is open to anyone interested, Cyr said.

Walkers will meet at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Sixth Street and

Al Anderson Road and walk south on

Al Anderson Road to the Highlands site.

From there, the group will either return to Al Anderson Road and walk further south to Maxwelton via the trail across Talking Circle land, or walk the future path for Fairgrounds Road pending permission by the owners of the property.

Finally, the walkers will arrive at the southern tip of the fairgrounds to examine the gravel road and the portion of the property that may be impacted by the request for an easement.

Cyr said he has long been worried about the traffic from the construction of the Highlands. But with work on the Highlands site beginning this week, his fears have taken shape.

“Last week, on a walk, I noticed all of the construction equipment parked on the future Highlands site. One of my neighbors reported that the truck hauling the equipment up there had a very difficult time turning around and indeed gouged ruts into the sides of the road. If the road had existed, no turnaround would have been required,” he said.

“On the way back from my walk, I hit on the idea of a ‘Walk to Save Langley’ to bring Langley citizens into the streets to educate and more importantly, to demand an end to the legal wrangling,” Cyr explained.

The city filed a condemnation suit in October to gain access to the land for the road. Fair officials have consistently opposed the new road, saying it would hurt the fairgrounds and put the future of the fair at risk.

Cyr said county officials should grant the easement instead of dragging the conflict through the courts.

“I am truly concerned about what will happen to Langley if the county commissioners don’t grant the easement for Fairgrounds Road,” he said. “Since Langley is such a wonderful place to walk, particularly in the spring, I thought a walk would allow Langley citizens to become even more educated as well as express their desire in a tangible way for this to be resolved quickly.”

The dispute over the road stretches back to 2005, but the upcoming walk is largely the first public demonstration in support of Fairgrounds Road.

Fair supporters have been much more active in rallying public support to their no-road position.

Last year, fair officials launched a “Save Our Fairgrounds” petition drive against the new road. They later presented county commissioners with petitions signed by approximately 600 people in opposition to the road, which fair supporters said would cut the size of the fairgrounds camping area by a third.

Fair association officials also sent out a mass e-mail to rally support for the fair.

Cyr hopes that city and county officials find time to attend the walk.

“Public funds are being used to pay for both sides of the legal battle, so it only seems appropriate that we hear from both sides. I’ve extended invitations to all of the parties involved,” he said.

Mayor Neil Colburn said he plans to participate in the walk unless he is needed at his restaurant on Saturday.

The idea of the walk has been received positively, Cyr said.

As of Monday, about a dozen people had expressed interest in participating.

“I hope that Langley citizens will take this opportunity to don their walking shoes and join this walk to save Langley and demand that the county commissioners grant the easement,” Cyr said.

Langley resident Fran Abel is considering taking the walk.

“I might be very interested just to see what the fuss is all about,” she said. “The solution of the new road seems like an easy one that’s been turned hard for some reason,” Abel added.