A very specific vulnerability revealed itself in a big way last week Thursday after two cars collided head-on on Highway 525 south of Coupeville.

Tragically, a 20-year-old woman died as a result of that crash. An elderly couple was hospitalized. The cause is being investigated.

While the investigators worked on scene to piece together a sequence of events, traffic on the busy highway was halted in both directions. For cars, transit buses and commercial trucks, everything came to a halt. There are no alternative routes — no detours to take.

Northbound cars that turned at the Greenbank Farm thinking they could bypass the accident found themselves backed up as well.

To the north of the accident scene was Whidbey General Hospital. To the south are thousands of residents. That means that many emergency responders couldn’t traverse the island in the event there was another emergency.

Emergency units’ ability to respond to other calls was limited during the time the highway was blocked, said Charlie Smith, deputy fire chief with Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue.

Because every second can make a difference in the event of a life-threatening emergency, this is an alarming reality of life on Whidbey Island.

It’s clear that it’s time to fast-track the process of creating an alternative to the stretch of highway between Admiral’s Cove and North Bluff Road.

Just this past July, during an Island County Planning Commission meeting, Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes discussed a possible alternate route from Race Road to Houston Road — the so-called Race Road Bypass.

Projected to cost about $6.5 million, the Race Road Bypass would provide an efficient alternative to Highway 525 in case that highway is blocked or closed in an emergency.

The bypass has been a discussion point since at least mid-2012.

Oakes acknowledged Thursday’s highway shutdown brought new attention to the need for the Race Road Bypass.

“That tragic accident stopped traffic for a significant amount of time and blocked things like transit and emergency response,” Oakes said.

“That’s why we’re moving this project forward.”

Island County is purchasing right-of-way for the new road, which would be about 1.5 miles long, according to Oakes.

Construction will likely begin next year or the year after, he said.

The bypass can’t come soon enough. Hopefully the work will be completed before it’s needed again.