The in basket: Doug Hatfield asked about the time the new traffic signal at Highway 305 and Madison Avenue on Bainbridge Island was turned on what compelled its installation. “How did it get a higher priority initially,” he asked “I don’t think there have been any fatality accidents there.”
Monthly Archives: April 2006
When Different Speed Limits Collide on Area Highway
The in basket: David Ledbetter says in an e-mail that there is a
short section of road that has two speed limits.
“When you leave Port Orchard along the water going toward Gorst,
the speed limit is 45 until the speed changes in Gorst to 40.
When you are on Highway 16 coming in from Tacoma the speed is 60
then it slows to 50 until you get in Gorst and it changes to
40. There is a section where the road from Port Orchard and
Tacoma merge where the traffic from Port Orchard has a speed limit
of 45 and the traffic from Tacoma has a speed limit of
50.
RV Passengers Exempt Under Container Law
The in basket: My stepdaughter Ronda Armstrong passed along a question from her friend Riley Brazil, who wonders if the open container law regarding alcoholic beverages applies to people in the back of a motor home on the road.
Fog light rules confused motorist
The in basket: Craig Tompkins of Bremerton writes, “A couple of
summers ago, I was pulled over by a Washington State patrolman on a
a beautiful moonlit night because (and only because) I had my
factory installed (bumper level) fog lamps lit on my newer
SUV.
“I normally always had them on day and night as running
lights for better visibility for both me at night and for others to
see me during the day.
“To my surprise, I was informed that having the fog lamps on during
anything but ‘inclement or foggy’ weather was illegal and
punishable by a $101 fine.
Sedgwick Suggestions
The in basket: Colleen Robbins of Olalla and Charles Palmer have
suggestions for a couple of Sedgwick Road locations in South Kitsap
that are a a few hundred yards apart.
Colleen says, “This community is in serious need of a stop light at
the intersection of Phillips and Sedgwick. This corner has got to
have our attention now if we are going to stop all the danger that
lies there.”
Visiting family members were hurt in an accident there in February,
she said.
Charles used the Road Warrior blog available at kitsapsun.com to
renew his suggestion that Sedgwick get a right turn lane westbound
at Jackson Avenue, just uphill from Phillips.
Busy Intersection not High on Priority List
The in basket: John DiGiovanni says “Central Valley Road and
Fairgrounds Road is an extremely busy intersection particularly
from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. With Woodlands and
Cottonwood elementary schools and Fairview Junior High and Olympic
High School in close proximity, in addition to fairgrounds events
through the year, why has the intersection not been upgraded?
“Currently only one direction of travel is
permitted at a time, ” he said, “with no left hand turn lanes. At
times, quite frequently, I have seen vehicles backed up to 25 or 35
vehicles as the wait for the three other directions of travel are
cycled.
School Zones Still Confusing Drivers
The in basket: Those who thought that abandoning the “When
Children are Present ” activator of a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit
in school zones would eliminate all the confusion must be
disappointed.
The Road Warrior is getting more questions than ever about how to
interpret the signs, so I imagine the traffic officials are
too.
The meaning of Dead End
The in basket: Charlotte Newsome of Port Orchard wonders what the difference is between a street marked Dead End and one marked No Outlet. “Seems like, either way, you’re not getting out of there unless you go back the way you came in,” she said.
More one-way signs planned for Gorst
The in basket: Don Palmer, who lives in Gorst, said he once
interceded to keep a confused driver from trying to turn right
underneath the overpass in front of the Subaru dealership in Gorst,
hoping to go toward Belfair, which would have had her driving the
wrong way against three lanes of eastbound traffic.
He said signs prohibiting right turns and indicating that it is
one-way eastbound are needed there.
Mullenis Road Cracks Due for Repair
The in basket: Joyce Moyer of Olalla says that Mullenix
Road in South Kitsap is sinking on its north shoulder just downhill
from Phillips Road and that recently, the pavement has developed a
crack.
