Better internet coming to SR-530 corridor

A $16 million investment into broadband is meant to bring better internet access to rural communities around SR-530.

Construction is scheduled to be done in 2024 for expanded broadband from Arlington to Darrington, including better connections for the Trafton and Oso communities.

The Washington State Department of Commerce Broadband Office provided the grant in January with a total of $16,713,615 for the Snohomish County project and about $129 million for other parts of the state.

About 5,600 residences and businesses are expected to benefit from better internet access.

“I was really excited to see that we secured this grant,” said Snohomish County Council member Nate Nehring.

“This is a significant amount of money to be invested in the SR-530 area,” he added.

COVID has made it clear how necessary stable internet is for living in the modern world.

“The pandemic has really highlighted the need for reliable internet access,” said Nehring. Students who are learning from home or adults working from home need strong broadband in order to be connected, he said.

“And that is easy to get if you live in an urban area, but we’ve seen that for others there can be a lot of trouble getting reliable internet access,” said Nehring.

A lot of residents of the area have spoken to Nehring and he said this will improve their day-to-day living.

“I’ve spoken with the superintendent and mayor in Darrington and they both talk about the need,” he said.

“And since then I’ve heard from all sorts of residents about the need for this,” he added.

There won’t be much of an benefit for those in Arlington city limits, but just outside those limits in communities such as Trafton the community should see improvement.

“Broadband was one of the elements that was identified as part of the Stilly Valley Economic Recovery plan that was developed right after the Oso slide,” said Paul Ellis, Arlington’s city administrator.

That plan was about developing sustainability in response to the disaster after it cut off a highway that typically moved workers and supplies every day between the communities.

“We saw at that time how dependent the whole valley was on one another,” said Ellis.

“Broadband access was something that was brought to light as a necessity that we had been overlooking at that time,” he added.

Ellis said he was glad the grant was coming to support those communities.

“We’re very pleased that will become available now,” he said.

The investment is coming to the SR-530 corridor partially because of efforts of the Snohomish County Broadband Action Team, formed by Snohomish County Council members Nate Nehring and Sam Low.

The group included community members and leaders who were tasked with raising awareness of the need for broadband and developing strategies to bring it to rural Snohomish County.

“This is a great team effort,” said Nehring.

Nehring was also glad that some of Washington state’s investments are coming back to Snohomish County.

“These are our tax dollars that went up to the state level and it’s always good when we can bring some of those back for local projects,” he said.