Road Warrior

The in basket: Donna M. Floyd of Belfair writes, “I have an inexpensive and sure-fire way to stop the confusion as to ‘when children are present’” in school zones.
“When spending time in Mesa, Arizona, I found that they know how to make it work!” she said. “At the designated time in the morning each school day, the crossing guard (or whoever) puts a large white sign on the dividing center line on all roads that border schools and when children are NOT present, the sign is taken away!
“Both sides of this sign shout….. SCHOOL ZONE 15 MPH
ENFORCED.

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The in basket: Tom Hughes read the news story I wrote for Wednesday’s paper about progress on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge and said, “You didn’t indicate what the toll would be or if it would ever be collected going west.”

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The in basket: It got to the point Monday when I winced whenever the little chime announced I had a new e-mail.
I had that morning invited motorcyclists to defend the practice of driving between lines of stopped freeway traffic, something I’d seen when I was caught in an early-October freeway back-up in Los Angeles. Having checked locally, I declared it illegal.
Well, sound off they did, most of them pranging me for not knowing that while it’s illegal here, it’s legal in California. They even have a term for it – lane splitting.

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The in basket: During an extended motor trip this fall, I found myself stuck in one of the infamous traffic jams that bedevil Los Angeles freeways. A rear-ender on I-10 had all but stopped traffic. During the crawl, probably three dozen motorcycles in several groups passed us driving down the line between the lanes – and between the larger vehicles. A few were probably doing it at 25 or 30 miles per hour.
It was annoying and an a little alarming to have them speeding by a yard or so from my door.

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The in basket: Charlie and Cindy Sandine say, “Once you get away from major areas like downtown Silverdale, there are no street signs for the street on which you’re driving. You’ll always have signs for the streets you’re crossing but we’re used to being able to look on the same pole and see the name of the street we’re on. That’s important when you’re new in town.”

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The in basket: Brenda Byrd writes, “I am a pickup truck owner (Dodge Dakota) and I would like for you to clarify the law on passengers riding in the bed of the pick-up truck even if they are sitting down.
 It doesn’t make a bit of sense to me why seat belts are required for people
inside the truck and not required for anyone riding in the bed of the truck.

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The in basket: A anonymous e-mailer asked on June 1 where a person is allowed to park at the north end of the Clear Creek Trail to use the trail. “It’s marked no parking except across the fog line on the overpass,” the e-mail said.

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The in basket: The state has decided it gave me some wrong information in reply to Bill Schaefer’s question a month ago about whether it’s legal to be a pedestrian on the Hood Canal Bridge. And a couple of bicyclists have asked questions about their right to use the bridge.

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The in basket: Cindy Sandine has noticed that the bridges in Kitsap County don’t have the same kind of signs as those she recalls seeing on Interstate 5, telling how much clearance there is beneath them, hence how tall a vehicle can pass underneath. Is that just required on I-5, she asked.

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The in basket: Doris Boyd has a question about a hole dug, apparently as part of the widening of Silverdale Way north of town.
“Before they began the actual work on Silverdale Hill, a large ‘pit’ was created on the east side of the road, at the crest of the hill,” she said. “It first had columns in it, and periodically those were changed. Later, they were gone, and the last time I went by, it was still just a pit, but a well- groomed one.”
This week she said it now is fenced.
“Can you tell us what purpose it was/is for?” she asked.

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