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6 Skagit County roads in serious disrepair, without funds to fix them

Six roads are in desperate shape, and the money to fix them is nowhere to be found.

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — Rich Crutchfield has lived in his Lake Cavanaugh home for 50 years.

To him, it's paradise, but for the past six months, the road through paradise has been closed.

"You wouldn't believe what I pay in property taxes," he said. "That really eats at you."

North Shore Drive along Lake Cavanaugh was built as a logging road more than a century ago. Now, it's crumbling into the water.

Skagit County closed the road about six months ago, according to Crutchfield, leaving people cut off.

Neighbors are having to carry their garbage up to a mile to get it picked up. More concerning: it's eight miles around the lake, slowing emergency responses.

"If you're doing a CPR in progress and it was down there on the other side of the blockage, that's a long run for us," said Crutchfield, also a volunteer firefighter. "It'll add at least 10 minutes, and that's too much."

He claims the county has had plenty of time to fix the problem.

"The road went slow. It didn't go fast. We pointed out weak spots. They'd say they're we're gonna send some people up to look at it. Then, all of a sudden, they said they have to close the whole road."

North Shore is one of six Skagit County roads in a serious state of disrepair.

There is a failed culvert on Fonk Road that is eating away at the only way in or out to about 20 homes.

Others include Samish Island Road, Edens Road (on Guemes Island), Concrete Sauk-Valley Road, and Bow Hill Road.

At this point, county officials say there is absolutely no money to make any fixes and finding it could take years.

They say they may have to turn to state grants or possibly FEMA funds, but those involve a lengthy and complex application process.

"In order to get that money, they're going to request our plans for a permanent solution, and that takes time and money too," said Skagit County spokeswoman Danica Sessions. "It's not as easy as just jumping in and starting to fix the erosion problem. We have to go through those proper channels and there are different steps along the way to consider."

Sessions estimates the costs for road repairs to be between $2 million and $7 million each.

Residents who live in the impacted areas might have to consider establishing special taxing districts to raise the money.

Sessions asked people for patience.

"There is a lot going on behind the scenes that people don't see," she said. "We have to get creative and find a way to fund these projects."

Sessions points out that for every dollar paid in Skagit County property taxes, only six cents go toward roads.

For Rich Crutchfield, he's just grateful paradise still has a view.

"The tradeoff is we still live on a lake and it's still beautiful," he said.

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