Call for a study, apply for some grants, and you have an idea that will never go away in government circles. It becomes a thing that cannot be killed. Fortunately, it probably won’t kill you either, there’s no need to hang garlic around one’s neck or walk around with a pistol that shoots silver bullets.

One such government-generated idea is the need for a new county road to span about 1.5 miles between Race and Houston roads on Central Whidbey. It’s the one place where there aren’t any back roads to use should Highway 20/525 be blocked.

The idea for a highway bypass in that area goes back to when Mike Shelton and Mac McDowell were county commissioners. Perhaps Shelton noticed the bypass gap on his daily drive up from South Whidbey. Perhaps some big property owner told McDowell he’d like to develop the area if only there were a road. Perhaps it was just that in the post 9/11 era, everyone was imagining possible disasters and devising ways to avoid them.

The idea has dragged on for years, despite pubic meetings in which most speakers were against opening up their area to more traffic and development. If the highway is closed, why not just bulldoze a path around the closure rather than building what is estimated to be a $6 million detour in advance. If it’s the “big one” they’re worried about, a 9.0 quake or larger would probably turn both roads into chunks of displaced pavement.

The new road isn’t needed, but it’s already created planning and design jobs. There’s no money to fund it, but there probably will be when the newly elected president decides to throw more money at the jobs problem. There are better ways to spend $6 million to prepare for an emergency, but you can’t use highway money for that.

Chances are, we’ll get that unnecessary highway bypass. Like any cinematic monster, once created a government idea is almost impossible to kill.

Anyone with a comment on the proposal should attend a meeting Thursday, June 21,  from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Race Road Fire Station.