The in basket: E-mailers Priscilla & Rudy Barrilleaux of Bremerton say “For the last two weeks there has been a survey crew working on Central Valley Road from Waaga Way to now just beyond Fairgrounds  

Road.  I was wondering if you could please find out the reason for  

the survey?”

They worried that Central Valley might grow to four lanes, Priscilla said.

The out basket: Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works says it’s advance work for the 2012 revision of the intersection of Fairgrounds and Central Valley roads . The county has earmarked $1.14 million for the work, so it will be a fairly substantial job, but preliminary engineering won’t begin for a year, says Doug, so there’s no word on how it will be configured. He’s heard no talk of replacing the signals with a roundabout, he said.

The in basket: Barbara Wilhite isn’t happy with the condition of the Silverdale intersection where Newberry Hill Road becomes Silverdale Way and Chico Way enters.

“The painted lines have disappeared and it is dangerous pulling over into the turn lane that drivers coming down Newberry Hill Road can no longer  

see,” she said. “There used to be a concrete marker that defined the area but that was removed and painted

instead.”  

The in basket: The absence of the concrete curbing is the only thing setting this situation apart from that on Lund Avenue in Port Orchard, discussed in a recent Road Warrior column. 

As on Lund, winter wear, which was worse this year because so much sanding and plowing of snow was needed, scrubs off the lines. On curves like the one in Silverdale, adds Jeff Shea, the Kitsap County traffic engineer, motorists drive over the line to flatten the curve out, worsening the wear. 

“The curb referred to by your reader was removed seven or eight years ago,” Jeff said. “I reviewed the accident history and there have been no accidents there that would have been prevented by the curb. 

“We don’t generally endorse  physical barriers in the road,” he said. “They often create more problems

than they solve. Motorists can careen off of it errantly or get

stuck straddling it. Physical barriers create challenges for snow and ice operations, as well as for other road maintenance equipment.

“The main reason  curbs are used is to prevent turning movements for safety reasons and to prevent congestion. We do use curbs down the centerline to prevent left turns from approaches that are too close to

intersections or where there is inadequate stopping sight distance for oncoming traffic.” 

The Silverdale intersection is among places the county will be installing recessed reflectors with a machine it will acquire this year, he said, so the lanes should be clearer next winter.

The county’s six-year road improvement plan shows a $705,000 traffic signal going in there in 2012.

It’s not the only concrete curbing in Silverdale to draw a protest recently. So has the one on Bucklin Hill Road at Levin Road. That’s our subject in the next Road Warrior.

The in basket: Russell Kent of Bremerton, a bicycle commuter, says the centerline curbing on Bucklin Hill Road at Levin Road in Silverdale, which prevents left turns, “has the unintended consequence of physically restricting westbound traffic on Bucklin Hill to a single lane.  

“This restriction prevents a westbound car from drifting across the center line in order to safely pass a bicycle,” Russ said. “I commute by bicycle on this route nearly every day, and on many occasions (usually before dawn), I have had cars come up behind me, begin to pass, but then slam on their brakes and slide when they realize that we both cannot physically fit in this section of roadway.  

“In one instance, instead of slowing down, a car actually straddled the curb to pass me, undercarriage dragging and sparks flying.

“The terminus of Levin is already configured to make cross-traffic turns difficult,” he said. The curbing should be removed in the short term, until Bucklin Hill Road is rebuilt and widened, he argues.

The out basket: And that will be done, if it already hasn’t been, says Jeff Shea, Kitsap County traffic engineer. “After

we remove it, we will monitor traffic patterns there,” he said. “If there is a large volume of left turns onto Levin, we may have to revisit some sort of turn restricting device.”

A $6.7 million widening of Bucklin Hill Road in that area is on the county’s road improvement plan for 2012-13.

The in basket: Joel Wadsworth of Belfair and Ginette Dalton recently protested the difficulty they have seeing as they look into the glare of oncoming headlights when they begin the descent into Gorst coming downhill on Highway 16 westbound from the direction of Tacoma.  

“If its raining, its 100 times worse,” said Gina. “All they need to do is put up those glare strips on top of the median that separates both directions of the highway.” They have them atop the concrete barrier just east of Gorst and also between Gorst and Bremerton and I recall how much easier they made it to see how close to the center barrier I was at night.

Joel found it particularly difficult during December’s prolonged snow siege. But “whenever I come around that corner, the lights from the oncoming cars just blind you,” he said.

The out basket:  When Jim Lawson asked for a glare screen at that location  in 2006 and Adele Ferguson before that, the state said there it would be putting its safety improvement money into more urgent needs, but this year the answer will be more to the liking of drivers who have this problem. 

Steve Bennett, traffic operations engineer for the Olympic Region said they have budgeted for a glare screen to be installed there in April, and scheduling issues have moved it up. The screen may be installed the week of March 16, he said. 

He was unaware of the short stretch of glare screen that has been demolished by vandals or accidents between Gorst and Bremerton, but said he would talk with the state maintenance crews here about whether they have the money and time to replace that as well.

The in basket: E-mailer Diane West and Don Chatel of Allyn, both of whom are valid disabled drivers, got $45 tickets recently on Second Street in Bremerton near the Bremerton Transportation Center. 

Diane said she’d understood that the disabled placards and plates permitted a driver to park all day on the street, even in spaces where able-bodied drivers have a time limit. 

“Can you please give me the low down on this?” she asked.

Don’s situation was exacerbated by an unfortunate miscommunication between him and city officials, which caused him to miss the court date he was assigned after protesting the ticket. He now fears the amount he will owe will go up.

After first getting the impression that the ticket would be excused, he belatedly learned that the dozen or so spaces in that location are for people picking up ferry commuters in the afternoon. The driver is required to remain in the vehicle between 4 and 7 p.m., and he returned to his car shortly before 5, so his ticket was valid.

The out basket: Carol Etgen, Bremerton city clerk, said those spaces, for the three afternoon hours drivers can’t leave their cars unattended, join fire hydrant zones, loading zones, and paid parking as places cars with disabled plates or placards must obey the same rules as everyone else.

I looked at those spaces and, frankly, it might not be hard to beat a ticket issued there in court.

The signs imposing that 4-7 p.m. restriction are a mishmash, some with arrows pointing in both directions, some pointing in only one, and one was twisted so it was almost pointing at the building rather than up and down the street. And the first one divided a parking space in two, making it unclear if that space was included.

The in basket: Diane Violette writes that she finds the merge of highways 16 and 166 westbound into Gorst stressful because she and others on 166 have been governed by a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit while those on 16 have been able to go 60.

“It is a huge hazard trying to stay at the 45-mph speed limit while being in the left lane,” she said. “I can’t help being in this lane because it’s automatic when getting out of Port Orchard, but NOBODY from 16 follows the 45 mph speed limit. I attempt to safely move to the next right lane ASAP but because that lane becomes a merge lane very soon, it is dangerous to get over there. 

“Someone needs to look at what is happening in this area because it is so dangerous and scary to follow the speed limit there if you are in the left lane coming from Port Orchard. What speed limit do those coming from 16 think it is in that area?”

The out basket: They probably think it’s 60 mph, which it is, the State Patrol tells me. She should skip all the lane changing and just speed up to 60 mph until she reaches the 40 mph zone just a few hundred feet ahead. 

Told this, she noted there are no signs informing a driver coming out of Port Orchard that that speed limit has gone up to 60. Diane’s gun-shy, she said, because she got nailed in a school zone for speeding recently, even though there no longer was a school there. The cop told her, “it doesn’t matter where or if there is a school nearby—you follow the sign,” she said. 

“If I got a ticket for going 60 mph where that P.O./16 merge is, what would be my defense?” she asked. “Your column? Why has no speed limit sign been posted there yet—talk about an accident waiting to happen!”

I guess my column will have to do. Steve Bennett, traffic operations engineer for the state’s Olympic Region said they won’t add a sign notifying drivers of the increase to 60 mph coming out of Highway 166. 

He explained that the sign warning of the upcoming reduction in Gorst to 40 mph is “just 700 feet beyond the point that Highway 166 enters Highway 16.  We do not want to confuse motorists on Highway 16 with two speed limit signs so close together.”