The following document was recently found in the MCRA archives, and we thought it might provide an interesting window into the history of Crawford Road.   Written in 2001, it illustrates how recently many of the developments on the road occurred.

Brief History of the Middle Crawford Road Association

MCRA was formed in the fall of 1997 as a result of a group of property owners who decided that maintenance of Crawford Road needed to be done on a more formal basis. The group also wanted to expand the membership with the hope that significant road improvements could be made in the future.

The next two years, 1998 and 99, were mainly devoted to grading and adding gravel at necessary locations as funds permitted. During this period we drafted our bylaws (with the help of a local attorney) with the expectation of recording them with Island County. This gives the association official recognition by the county. We also installed warning and speed limit signs at selected locations along the road.

At the October, 1999 general membership meeting the possibility of real road improvement was proposed. Property owners along the road were beginning to show interest in sub-dividing (“short platting”) their land into smaller lots. Island County has requirements for doing a “short plat”, including road improvements. As a result, a joint venture with MCRA was suggested to accomplish the required improvements to-the benefit of all parties.

In 2000 an import-export company, named Asli Arts, opened a large warehouse on Crawford Road about a quarter mile south of the airport. This event brought significantly more traffic to the road between employees, package deliveries and large container trucks. The owners of this business saw the necessity for road improvements, and have become the third, and largest, member of the joint venture.

The rest of 2000 was spent in discussion and negotiations with our co-venturers, contractors and parts of the Island County bureaucracy regarding requirements and costs to upgrade Crawford Road. The first .
proposal was to build an all-weather gravel road at a cost exceeding $60,000, This idea was not met with great enthusiasm. A second proposal to pave the road from Highway 525 to the warehouse (approximately 1.3 miles) increased interest in the project dramatically. The cost of this project will be about $110,000 – a large increase over gravel – but we believe it will be a better investment over the long run.

Also, during 2000 the association was incorporated as a Non-Profit Corporation with the State of Washington. This gives us legal standing. In addition, we purchased a $2,000,000 liability insurance policy covering members of the association.

In April, 2001 we recorded a summary of our bylaws and the Declaration of Membership for each then current member with Island County. This makes the Association a recognized entity.

Road construction has begun. Grading, ditching and other preparation should take about two weeks. When Krieg starts paving, it should take less than a day.   Assuming all of the pieces fall into place, we should have a real road in place before the end of June