An ordinance reducing the speed on most of Glendale Road to 35 m.p.h., and 25 m.p.h. on one stretch, was greeted with ambivalence by some residents at an Island County Board of Commissioners hearing last week.

The resolution sets a consistent speed limit of 35 mph on the road from Holst Road through 2,200 feet of the Glendale Creek canyon. Where the road enters the village of Glendale, the speed limit decreases to 25 mph until it reaches Humphrey Road.

The board also approved a resolution setting a one-year load restriction of 5 tons on the entirety of Glendale Road, from Humphrey Road to Holst Road.

Speaking during the public comment portion of the hearing, Marianne Edaine and Steve Erickson of Whidbey Environmental Action Network both expressed qualified criticisms of the new ordinance.

Edaine said that it was a good idea to reduce the speed on Glendale Road, but a bad idea to open it in the first place due to the potential for structural and environmental damage to the area. She called the resolution a “sad, after-the-fact Band-Aid” for a more serious decision that should have been made regarding the road.

Then she thanked the board for the Band-Aid.

Erickson’s comments were brief, limited, in fact, to just two words: “Speed bumps.”

Glendale Road reopened in November after a five-year closure related to flood damage and landslides.