The in basket: Don McGuirk of South Kitsap wonders what constitutes a “traction tire,” the requirement for crossing the mountain passes during snow storms that is one step down from being required to chain up.
Monthly Archives: January 2008
No ‘cycle endorsement will get your bike impounded
The in basket: Chris Smalley asks whether a motorcyclist stopped and found not to have the required motorcycle endorsement on his license will have his bike confiscated.
When a speeder in the HOV lane comes up from behind
The in basket: Jack Carson e-mails to say “My question concerns
the laws and proper etiquette for use of the new HOV lanes on
Highway 16 and, for that matter, those on I-5 and I-405.
“When driving in the HOV lanes at the speed limit or above, other
vehicles commonly approach rapidly from the rear, tailgate for a
while, and then pass to the right, often expressing their
displeasure in being slowed with hand gestures.
“How does the state patrol want the HOV lanes used? Should those of
us who drive the speed limit move in and out of the HOV lane to
make way for speeders or should the speeders be passing us on the
right?”
Miller Bay Road construction barrels pose question
The in basket: Madalyn Larsen says in an e-mail, “Besides all
the lights installed and new culvert for salmon, there
is another project going on between Indianola Road and Highway
104.
They have put in wide shoulders and lined the whole thing with
reflective barrels, moved out a trailer that had been there for
years, put up a fence, and there is not one clue as to what they
are doing with that area. Can you please find out for us?”
Are bald motorcycle tires commonplace? Legal?
The in basket: Forrest Butler says in an e-mail, “Looking at
motorcycle tires, I have noticed that they are often bald,
especially the rear tires. Some of them look like
they were made that way.
“Doesn’t the same Lincoln-Head-must-show tread rule apply to
motorcycle tires?” he asked, referring to use of a penny to
determine if your tire tread is too shallow.
No left-turn prohibitions on 11th Street
The in basket: Harry James raises an issue I’ve heard
occasionally over the past dozen years about 11th Street in
Bremerton. “Going eastbound from Naval to Warren is very dangerous
when people turn left at intersections other than the one with a
left-turn lane,” Harry said.
“It seems like there should be a restriction to only turn left
using the left-turn lane at High Avenue or to post and enforce
restricted hours for turning left off of 11th in that area. Is
there accident data to support a change?
Controversial new interchange ready for power outages
The in basket: Kevin Corcoran and Barb Frindell have the same
concern (one of many) about the new interchange where highways 3
and 303 meet north of Silverdale.
As Kevin puts it in a comment on the Road Warrior blog at
www.kitsapsun.com, “With the current layout, traffic flows in
opposing lanes for a distance until you make a left turn. If there
is a power outage and the signal lights are unlit, how would
traffic proceed through the intersection?
Blinking white lights puzzle a reader
The in basket: Bernice Lee e-mailed to say, “Here and there
around Bremerton, there are small white lights mounted on the
signal light bars which blink rapidly for no apparent reason.
“When the one at the Sheridan and Wheaton Way intersection was
blinking, the light facing me was green. That doesn’t make sense if
these are ‘red light photo’ lights, nor as an added incentive for
people to stop at a red light,” she said.
“There is also one at 15th and Naval Avenue, at the corner of the
cemetery,” she said.
Cars not stopping on South Banner at Sedgwick
The in basket: Bob Hoyer of Bremerton says the Dec. 11 accident
in which a Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputy was involved in a
one-car, roll-over accident at
Sedgwick and South Banner roads in South Kitsap is not unusual.
“I am very familiar with this and other
accidents at this location,” Bob wrote, “as it occurred in my
mother-in-law’s
driveway. There have been at least a dozen similar accidents
where
a (driver) traveling north on South Banner either fell asleep
or,
through inattention, failed to stop at the intersection.
He suggests that “a very simple and inexpensive solution to people
blowing through
that intersection would be a pair of rumble strips plus a ‘Stop
Ahead’ sign in the north-bound lane placed an appropriate
distance
south of the intersection.
New NK light leaves early morning commuter waiting
The in basket: Mark Roden writes that “leaving Indianola at 4:15 a.m. for the past two weeks I have been held up at the new stop light at the fish hatchery for what seems an eternity. The light at that time of the morning will not change. This morning, for example, I waited two minutes (I timed it) before running the red light. I then continued to watch in the rearview mirror until the … light was out of sight and it never changed.
