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DEWEY BEACH — The South Fidalgo Community Council will hold a town hall-style meeting Wednesday to discuss the cost of fuel, traffic safety and the capacity of Deception Pass Bridge.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, and Todd Harrison, state Department of Transportation assistant regional administrator, will be at the meeting to discuss traffic issues relating to Highway 20 and Deception Pass Bridge. Council members will raise questions about whether an additional bridge will be built to connect Whidbey Island to the mainland or to replace Deception Pass’ historic bridge.

Two ferry routes and Highway 20 over Deception Pass are the only public routes to the island.

Rumors about replacing the Deception and Canoe pass bridges have circulated on South Fidalgo Island for at least a year. The rumors are based on two state transportation documents, including an 8-year-old feasibility study generated at the request of a former Island County commissioner, as well as the draft of a state long-term planning document that discussed the possibility of replacing the Deception Pass bridges when they were too costly to maintain.

The feasibility study looked at whether it was cost-effective to connect Whidbey Island to the mainland by an additional bridge, but state transportation officials found such a proposal to be impractical.

State officials are in the process of revising their long-range plans for Highway 20 and have said that it isn’t cost effective to replace the bridges at this time.

Want to go?

What: Public meeting of the South Fidalgo Community Council

Topic: Traffic safety; plans for Deception Pass Bridge.

When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Mount Erie Dewey Beach Fire Hall on Deception Road and Highway 20.

* Send questions prior to the meeting to http://www.southfidalgo.org.