Road Warrior

The in basket: Rob Shafer of Port Orchard says in an e-mail, “In the past six months there have been three serious accidents, with at least one fatality, on Southworth Drive between Locker Road and Banner Road southeast of Port Orchard. 

“There is a slight turn to the left as you approach Curley Creek after Locker Road that all three drivers involved in the accidents missed,” he said. “At this point in the road there is very little shoulder and a BIG hole that either stops the car very quickly, or launches it back onto the road. 

“Are there any plans to make this turn safer both for careless drivers and oncoming traffic?” he asked. “Add a guardrail? Fill the hole? Widen the shoulder? Add rumble strips?”

The out basket: It looked to me that just filling the hole would correct whatever hazard exists. But the county plans more.

Jeff Shea, county transportation engineer, says, “A guard rail in itself can be an obstacle near the roadway and is usually a last resort used to protect motorists from other roadside obstacles.  

“In this case the hole is located where a drainage pipe crosses under the road. Our surface and storm water utility is putting catch basins and pipe in the holes then will fill the holes to create a more shallow ditch line. That should address the concerns there.”

That’s not the only work planned there, incidentally. The county has plans for a $2.1 million replacement of the bridge over Curley Creek just a few feet east of there next year, though the work isn’t likely to reach to the spot Ron mentions.

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The in basket: Andrew McMillen said in an e-mail, “When the Masi Shop on Highway 305 in Suquamish added the new buildings, they  got an on/off merge lane in the southwest direction and an additional exit on the opposing side. 

“The speed limit is 55 mph and soon dropping to 50. However, in both directions traffic frequently has to slow to as low as 20 mph for exiting/entering traffic, sometimes abruptly. 

“Cars coming from the shop heading towards Poulsbo cause through traffic on the highway to slow drastically,” he said. “They don’t enter the merge lane and wait, they just merge all the way onto the highway, which is uphill at that point and slows them down.

“What traffic studies were done on the highway modifications, or will be?” he asked.

The out basket: I can’t answer that exact question, but the Suquamish tribe and the state are working to correct the shortcomings on that short stretch of highway.

It’s clear the highway alignment has been a work in progress. Andrew referred me to a Google Maps aerial of that spot, presumable taken last year. It showed two large arrows indicating a merge of traffic that has just turned left out of the shops to go toward Poulsbo and some left turn arrows for turns into the shops. 

Today. the two large arrows have been scrubbed off and the left turn lane is farther toward the center of the shopping complex. One of three egresses Google Maps showed is now closed and another enlarged.

“What they have done so far is not according to our procedures,” Art Sporseen of state highways told me, “but we are on board with them now and have an improved plan for future improvements.” 

Bob Gatz, tribal engineer, says the tentative plans have not gotten final approval, but he expects the revised alignment to provide a deceleration lane for traffic from Poulsbo turning right into the shops. That should eliminate one of Andrew’s concerns. 

That will widen the highway and allow for a longer acceleration lane toward Poulsbo, Bob said. At present there isn’t enough length to let entering cars get up to highway speed before merging, so it will interesting to see if the changes will fix that.

The center egress from the shops will remain closed and the one closest to Agate Passage will remain right-out-only, Bob said. Allowing left turns there would put cars into the left turn pocket, from which they could not proceed toward Poulsbo.

The tribe’s Port Madison Enterprises, which runs the Masi Shop, Clearwater Casino, Kiana Lodge and a number of other things is paying for the work, state and tribal officials said.

Incidentally, when I pronounced Masi like Masai, as in the African tribe, Russell Steele, head of Port Madison Enterprises corrected me and said it’s pronounced “mossy.” He didn’t know its meaning. 

The old store will soon be torn down, he said, but all the existing gas pumps will remain.

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The in basket: The Burwell Street-Warren Avenue intersection and its traffic signal in Bremerton continue to draw suggestions from readers. The latest comes from Ralph Gribbin, who says, “Nothing dumps so many vehicles onto Burwell in such a short time as the ferries. Yet when Burwell was redone a few years ago, the big dump was only given one lane to use, yet the eastbound traffic that straggles through got two lanes. Doesn’t make sense to me.  

“Now with the tunnel finished,” he said, “the intersection with Warren Avenue gets two lanes eastbound straight through and the left turn onto Warren only gets one lane. Most of the eastbound Burwell traffic turns left from (the) one lane.

During the tunnel the construction, he continued, “two lanes turned left without any problems. Make that a two-lane turn and ease the lines that are waiting, and just maybe the time for that signal could be reduced and still not cause backups,” he said.

The out basket: As I recall, making Burwell two lanes inbound and one outbound years ago resulted from having only enough right of way for three lanes. I imagine making it easier to get out of town than into town bore some psychological message in a struggling city, so they did the opposite.

As for allowing left turns from both eastbound lanes of Burwell at Warren, it worked fine when the tunnel project closed both lanes for going straight. 

Now, says tunnel project engineer Brenden Clarke, eastbound drivers can see two lanes available on the other side of the intersection. Even with the left-most green signal a left-only arrow,  he said, “this would violate driver expectancy and could result in eastbound Burwell traffic in the left lane continuing forward (because they can see an open lane in front of them) and could result in a collision with motorists in the right lane turning left.”

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The in basket: The in basket: Beverly Hanson of Bremerton wrote to say, “When I recently was visiting Florida, I was made aware of the Move-Over Law enacted there, meaning that when there is police or emergency car pulled over to the side, you must, if at all possible, move into another lane even if that emergency vehicle is not in a lane. 

“They have a large fine for not complying and reflects points which can make your insurance increase as well. 

“Lately,” Beverly said, “I have been reading that the Move Over Law is in place in most states.  Washington State was not listed as being one that doesn’t have the law, so am I to assume it is in place. 

“If so, there sure isn’t any notice about it.  We all know to slow down, but getting into another lane is not in our consciousness at this time.”

The out basket. Well, allow me to make it a little more well known. This state has had the same law, also called the Move Over Law, in force since 2005. 

State Trooper Krista Hedstrom of the Bremerton detachment says, “Last year, troopers statewide stopped 997 cars for this violation, (of which) 245 received $124 infractions. 

“I know the Seattle-based media (KING5, KOMO4, KIRO7, Q13) have all covered this issue numerous times. There was also a large campaign done throughout Kitsap County when this law became effective in 2005.  The (state traffic safety commission) printed up brochures containing information on the law, which are still handed out at public safety events.

“And still,” she said, “I see drivers violating this law on a regular basis.  Usually when this violation occurs, the trooper is already on a traffic stop and cannot drop what they are doing to chase after the driver who failed to move over.  Troopers will continue to stop drivers for this violation.”

The law also protects tow trucks, fire engines, ambulances and highways crews working on emergency repairs, in which cases a police officer is less likely to be tied down on another detail and able to come after you.

“We plan to do an emphasis soon focusing on this violation, ” she said. 
It is so common – we hear about police vehicles and WSDOT vehicles getting rear ended all the time.

You don’t have to move over it isn’t safe to do so (as when another car is in the next lane), the law says, but you must slow down if you can’t move over.

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The in basket: “What am I going to do with you?” old friend Jack Gaudette asked me on the phone the other day. 

I had included Jack among those  named in an earlier Road Warrior column who were puzzled by the length of the school zone on newly widened Sedgwick Road at Converse Avenue.

But he wasn’t asking about that school zone, Jack told me. He had been asking about the school zone at Sedgwick Junior High a few miles down the highway to the east. 

In that earlier column, a state official had said the end a school zone can be indicated by an “End of School Zone” sign or a speed limit sign setting a higher speed. They had chosen the latter at Converse.

But there is neither at the junior high, Jack said. The only speed limit sign one encounters going either way on Sedgwick is a long way down the road. Do they have to stay at 20 mph all that way when the school zone lights are flashing, he wondered.

The Sedgwick zone got flashing lights just last year to indicate when the 20 mph speed limit is in effect.

That same day Jack called to straighten me out, Mary Gay phoned to make the same point. “I think the state forgot to put in an ‘end school  zone’ sign,” she said. Most people figure they’re out of the school zone when they pass the sign with the flashing light for traffic going in the opposite direction, she said. But with the regular speed limit of 45 mph, you’re risking a whopper of a ticket risky making that assumption. 

The out basket: I drove it and found that there are 1.3 miles between speed limit signs on either side of the school zone. 

Steve Bennett, traffic operations engineer for the Olymmpic Regi0n of state highways, said there definitely should be some indication that the school zone had ended once one is past the school, and the state will install 45 mph speed limit signs where the school zone ends at each opposing flashing light.

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The in basket: Richard Hood posted the following comment about the HOV lanes leading out of Bremerton toward Gorst on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com. 

“These lanes are great for rush hour time,” he said, “but they sit nearly empty at other times. Could Bremerton maybe change the HOV restrictions to only certain times of the day? 

“That’d be pretty convenient,” he said.” I don’t like having to merge at the end of the non-HOV lane.”

The out basket: That’s a state decision, not one for the city, and there’s a good chance the state will make the change soon.

Steve Kim, traffic engineer for the Olympic region, tells me they have decided to recommend limiting use of that lane to HOVs only during peak traffic hours, which probably would be just a short time on weekday afternoons. If that is done, all vehicles could use the inside lane at other times.

But they want the agreement of the city, Navy and Kitsap Transit that it’s a good idea,and they will be setting up a meeting with those agencies to discuss it, Steve said. 

The same change might ultimately be made on the HOV lanes on Highway 16 around the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, he said, but they aren’t willing yet to make that an official recommendation.

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The in basket: Jeff Paskett suggested when I encountered him at his South Park Rexall store that I probably could tell him what is going on at the Burnham Drive interchange on Highway 16 in Gig Harbor.

I had to tell him I couldn’t, but that I’d been wondering the same thing myself. 

The out basket: I went online and it didn’t take long to find a description of the $6.4 million project on the Web site of Gig Harbor Public Works, which is supervising the work. Woodworth & Co. is the contractor. It’s all largely being paid for by mitigation payments by developers in that area, notably the owners of St. Anthony’s Hospital.

According to the Web site, the main improvements will be: 

- Widening the state’s small roundabout on the west side of  Highway 16 (near Sehmel Drive) from one lane to two.

- Adding a “slip lane” from Canterwood Boulevard to the Highway 16 westbound on-ramp (to Bremerton), to let vehicles bypass the large roundabout and “slip” onto Highway 16 to Bremerton. St. Anthony’s is on Canterwood, so travel from the hospital to the freeway westbound will be easier. In picturing this, remember that the state insists that Highway 16 is an east-west highway because that’s the direction it runs on the Tacoma side of the Narrows. On the Kitsap Peninsula it runs north-south but the references still are to east and west.

- Adding a slip lane from the Highway 16 westbound off-ramp to Burnham Drive, which will allow vehicles to exit westbound Highway 16, bypass the large roundabout and slip onto Burnham Drive.

- Adding another lane to both Highway 16 off-ramps that exit from Tacoma and exit from Bremerton. That’s the reason to go to two lanes on the west side roundabout.

The Web site doesn’t mention it, but the work also will widen both the east- and westbound on-ramps to two lanes at the roundabouts, but they will taper to a single lane entering the freeway, says Project Engineer Marcos McGraw

Work began in August, he said, and will take a year. They’re having to build some large walls to contain the construction. 

The Web site includes a drawing of the completed work. Go to www.cityofgigharbor.net/page.php?id=759 to take a look.

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The in basket: Harry Mock of Port Orchard writes to say, “On Highway 304 and numerous other places, there are HOV lanes with signs saying “HOV only, 2+”.  Does the “2+” mean two people or more, or more than 2 people (i.e. 3 or more)?  Can a vehicle with two occupants use the HOV lane, or does it require three?  Just trying to stay legal.”

It’s not a question that had ever occurred to me. I think I already knew that HOV lanes in this state were open to any vehicle with two or more occupants before I ever saw one of the 2+ signs. But I can see where the meaning of 2+ might be unclear to someone who hadn’t learned that. I asked the state if saying “Two or more” might be better.

The out basket: Steve Bennett, traffic operations engineer for this region, replies, “The sign does mean two or more. As for it being rephrased, this has been the standard for over 20 years and this is the first time I have ever heard of someone not understanding the message.  I doubt there is widespread misunderstanding of the meaning.”

As past Road Warrior columns have noted, any second living person, even an infant or blind person, qualifies a vehicle for use of the HOV lane. Why specify “living?” I’ve had the question, probably posed in jest, as to whether a corpse in a hearse would serve as a second occupant. It won’t.

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The in basket: Brian J. Peterson says, “I get a little upset at bikers … who think they are immune to the laws of the road.

“For example,” he said, “(One) Friday afternoon in late October I’m driving through Illahee park. The main road through the park is one way. As I’m heading down the road going around 10 mph the right way, a man and woman with a child, on bikes, came around the corner going the wrong way and almost hit me in my car,

“I told them they were going the wrong way on a one-way street. The man cussed me out and then the lady told me cars are required to yield to bikes.  

“‘I don’t think so,’ I told her (and) she then proceeded to cuss me out for not moving my car off the road so they could go around me. I couldn’t  back up the wrong way on a one-way street.

“Later the same day I’m heading home westbound on E. 30th Street,  when a middle-aged man comes barreling down the hill on Viewcrest completely ignoring me and the stop sign at the end of Viewcrest and headed west also on 30th. I had to slam on my brakes and swerve to miss him. 

“When i told him he had to stop at the sign just as cars are required to, he cussed me out and flipped me off, saying ‘Cars must yield to bikes.’  I told him bikes have to stop at stop signs also and if I hadn’t slammed on my brakes I might have killed him.

Brian called the police both times, he said, and was told  there is nothing they can do unless they see it happen.

The out basket: It’s unusual in my experience to encounter two aggressive, misinformed bicyclists in a single day, but that’s appears to be what happened to Brian. 

Cars are not required to yield to bikes in any situations in which they don’t have to yield to other cars. State law accords bicyclists all the rights and duties of motor vehicles, except that bikers are specifically allowed to ride on the shoulder, which cars can’t do. 

Deputy Scott Wilson of Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office tells me, “The parties that Brian mentioned were not operating their bicycles in accordance with the law. The operators of the bicycles could have been (ticketed) for at least two traffic offenses, ie:  traveling in the opposite direction on a one-way road (Illahee Park incident); failure to stop at a stop sign (man on Viewcrest @ East 30th).

Scott also said roads in state and county parks are public roads and violators can be ticketed on them. They’re not private roads, such as shopping center parking lots, where violators can’t be cited.

While I was at it, I asked if bicyclists can ride across streets in crosswalks and whether it mattered if pedestrians are in the crosswalk. Scott said bicyclists may stay mounted in crosswalks and on sidewalks, but must yield to pedestrians in either case.

I ran Scott’s answers past the State Trooper Krista Hedstrom, who said she agrees with him.

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The in basket: Julia LaFontaine of Tracyton says there was a 35 mph speed limit sign on southbound Wheaton Way as one approaches the Warren Avenue Bridge, a bit past the intersection with Sheridan, before the city of Bremerton built its off-ramp there a couple of years ago. 

“I’m guessing it was in the way of construction of the new off-ramp to the Sheridan Park area,” she said, ” but . . . where is it now?  There’s no sign now from the intersection to the other 35 mph sign just where the bridge deck begins (after the on-ramp there). 

“I use that route (along Tracyton Beach Road and up Sheridan) three to five times a week,” she said. “I’m a rules follower, and whatever the speed limit is, that’s what I go on surface streets. I do sometimes get up to 65 on the freeway, but on surface streets and rural roads there are always joggers, people crossing to a mailbox, animals, hidden driveways, all kinds of unexpected things possibly just around a curve.  

“When turning onto the bridge I’ve been using the 30 mph of Wheaton as my guide, until I get to the further sign, but people are always on my tail or rushing past in the left lane. 

“Will they ever replace that sign?” she asked. “ Or is 30 intended to be the correct speed until you reach that second sign? There was a long stretch at 35 before reaching the second sign.” 

The out basket: Brenden Clarke, head of the state’s local project office, says Julie is mistaken, that there was no 35 mph sign where the city built its off-ramp to Callahan Drive and Lebo Boulevard. He included a photo of the spot taken prior to the construction, he said, viewed from the north, and no sign is visible.

I don’t have any contrary recollection of the speed limit history there. 

“The correct speed limit at this location is indeed 30 mph,” Brenden said. ”It’s 30 mph until you reach the 35 mph speed limit sign at the bridge.”

I’m not surprised that Julia feels pressure to speed up from drivers behind her.  Most drivers don’t adhere to the speed limit like she does, especially on straight stretches like that approaching the bridge. But they can always pass her if they want to go faster.

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