The in basket: Back in December, Archie Fuhrmann said the stripes on Silverdale Way, especially just north of Byron Avenue, were very hard to see. “You can’t see exactly where to drive in the dark,” he said.

The out basket: This is a common complaint during the winter here and everywhere snow removal and rain wear on the roadway paint. Counties, cities and the state try to restripe every line on every road in their jurisdiction each year, but not until summer.

The stretch of Silverdale Way Archie mentions got more than just the usual winter wear. Silverdale Water District releveled and repaved it late last year after undoing some damage caused by a broken water line.

Jeff Shea, Kitsap County traffic engineer, says, “We are starting our annual striping program. We have completed a few roads, but the weather and equipment breakdowns have hampered our efforts.

“Because of the volume of traffic in Silverdale we normally stripe over a weekend, usually in July. Our traffic maintenance supervisor is going to evaluate the areas your reader mentioned, and see if we can stripe those areas earlier.”

The in basket: Dennis Halstead is the latest reader to question why the traffic signal on Burwell Street at Warren Avenue in Bremerton isn’t friendlier to drivers heading toward downtown. They have to wait for a red light to change until long after westbound Burwell drivers get a green light.

“Why is (it), whether it’s east- or westbound on Burwell … that both directions don’t have the light synchronized to either go or stop?” he asked. “This does not make any sense to me that one lane is allowed to proceed when the other lane is stopped burning fuel.”
The out basket: The state had temporary jurisdiction over the signals at that intersection in the weeks after the downtown ferry tunnel was finished to make sure traffic flowed easily through the tunnel.

A state official explained at the time that the eastbound light stayed red to allow any westbound driver who wanted to turn left into the small parking lot on the south side of Burwell to make the turn. There’s no turn pocket there, so a westbound driver waiting for oncoming traffic to clear would cause traffic exiting the ferry to back up behind him.

The state now defers to the city on control of that signal, as it normally does on signals on state highways inside a city. But no change is imminent.

“No decision has been made at this point,” says Jeff Collins head of the city’s signal shop. “We are aware of the complaint but until we have money and or staff to make modifications we will leave it as is.

“It would require reprogramming of the signal controller, addition of a no-left-turn sign, and removal of the traffic head with left-turn arrow and replaced with standard three-section head,” he said.

The in basket: Bob Simonoff has been having trouble in the form of citations from the state’s Good to Go! office for not paying the toll to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

He crosses the bridge a few times a week in his work van, and had no trouble until February, when he got a citation after one crossing. Unfortunately, that one got lost in the mail, so he didn’t know he had a problem of it until after he got two more in April.

His main problem, he learned, was that he didn’t think to register his van’s new license plates with Good to Go! after the state required him to get new ones as part of its every-seven-year plate replacement program.

He suggested my readers would benefit if I mentioned in the column the need to get new plates listed in  one’s toll account.

The out basket: And so I shall. If you are one of thousands with Good to Go! toll accounts who are told each year you must replace your plates, be sure to go on line or call Good to Go! with the new plate’s number so your account can be updated.

Janet Matkin of the toll office said, “Although I don’t know the specifics of (Bob’s) case, my guess is that his transponder stopped working for some reason and when we tried to identify his vehicle by his license plate number, the new plate number wasn’t on the account.

“Anytime that a vehicle doesn’t have a good read from a transponder,” she said, “we capture a photo of the license plate and then run that plate number against a list of Good To Go! account holders before sending it through the violation process. If he’d had his correct plate registered, we would have charged his Good To Go! account for the toll.

“This summer,” she added, “(we) will be introducing Pay By Mail to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, so vehicles that use the electronic toll lanes and don’t have Good To Go!accounts (or who don’t have their correct license plate numbers registered on their accounts) will be sent a Toll Bill in the mail, rather than automatically being sent a violation notice.

The toll rate will $5.50 for Pay By Mail, higher than the toll otherwise, to cover the costs of processing and sending a Toll Bill. “But, that is substantially less than the $52 violation notice that they would receive now,” Janet said

Account holders also “should remember to remove the license plate number from their account if they sell a vehicle,” she said.

Lastly, she said, “You also might want to suggest that if they have guests visiting from out of the area or they are renting a car, they can temporarily add the license plates numbers to their account and not have to worry about stopping at the toll booths.”

The in basket: Well, it happened again. Another Road Warrior reader got pulled over and ticketed at the Sedgwick Road interchange on Highway 16 for going through a red arrow light in a left turn lane.

Freeway on-ramps are among the few places in our county where a little-known state law makes such a turn legal. The law on red lights says a left turn can be made against a red light, either an arrow or a solid ball, IF turning onto a one-way street, IF the driver comes to a complete stop first, IF the driver yields to any traffic with a green light. and IF no signs forbid it.

Caly Madden was the victim this time, on April 19, and the citing officer was a Kitsap County sheriff’s deputy. Last year, a Port Orchard police officer cited a driver for the same thing at the very same place. I helped him get that one dismissed.

The out basket: I contacted Undersheriff Dennis Bonneville, who looked into it and agreed his deputy had goofed. He said he contacted the deputy, who said, essentially, “My mistake.” They’ve asked the county prosecutor’s office to dismiss the ticket, since it’s out of KCSO’s hands once it’s sent to court.

For the rest of us, it may not be worth the hassle to take advantage of that law, especially if we know there is an officer watching us. Caly wound up sitting on the shoulder for quite a while after he was stopped and told the deputy that the law made his turn legal. He didn’t know if the deputy checked by radio with someone else who also didn’t know the law. In any case, the deputy wrote the ticket.

The law in question is Section 3 of RCW 46.61.050.

I usually can’t take advantage of it when I come to one of the few places in the county where it applies because the lead driver stopped at the light rarely knows the law, or dares use it. Westbound Burwell Street at Pacific Avenue in Bremerton is one such, as are the freeway on-ramps with signals controlling movement.

Dennis mentioned something in passing that I hadn’t thought of. He said the deputy who stopped Caly saw another driver at the scene give him a puzzled look or gesture as if to say, “Well??! Are you going to let him get away with that?” He didn’t, as it turned out, but he should have..

It certainly can put an officer in an awkward spot when he must ignore some legal driver action widely believed to be against the law even though it’s not..

Dennis also said the county public works traffic division will be discussing with law enforcement whether they should put up “No Left Turn on Red” signs at the relevant intersections.

He also noted that it would be a tricky question at places like Central Valley Road’s northbound on-ramp to Highway 303. There, the corresponding off-ramp curves up and ends at the same spot, creating a very short two-way street, Of course, there’s no traffic signal there, but some day there might be.

If you want to try it, it would be smart to have a copy of the law with you, or the passage in the state driver’s guide that also says it’s a legal maneuver.

The in basket: Two readers have written me about problems they’ve had with drivers merging onto the Warrren Avenue Bridge in Bremerton at the very short off-ramp from Callahan Drive to proceed south toward downtown..

Archie Fuhrmann and William, who asked that his last name not be used, both told of drivers who merge without looking, signaling or …..  (egad) stopping. Bill advocates a stop sign on the ramp and Archie proposes a flashing light on the yield sign there.

The out basket: I’m thankful that I rarely see a driver stop on that on-ramp because of traffic already on the bridge. I regard stopping on an on-ramp, even on one that short, as clear evidence of a timid, fearful and inexperienced driver.

I often use that ramp and have never had a conflict I couldn’t resolve by either speeding up or slowing down slightly to avoid the other car in the bridge’s outside lane.

The state law requires any driver merging there or on any on-ramp to signal and anyone who doesn’t risks a ticket. Still, I don’t know what it adds to safety. There’s nothing else a driver on the ramp can do but merge left.

When I’m on the bridge, I prepare to merge to the inside lane if I’m not already there and I see a car coming up that on-ramp. I encourage others, especially those who  find that spot scary, to do the same.

A stop sign would just make things worse. It would keep all merging drivers, not just timid ones, from maintaining a speed that provides the flexibility to either speed up or slow down as the situation requires.

The Yield sign there is on a street light pole. I suppose a  flashing light could be added, but it seems to me that Bremerton, which would have to add such a light, has numerous other shortcomings on its streets more deserving of its street money.

The in basket: Brenda Byrd and Kim Callender would like to see something done to make walks with their dogs on dead-end Schold Road next to the Silverdale dog park safer.

“A lot of people travel down that road on foot,” Brenda said. “People also drive down that road to the dead end and turn around. Without fail, the people in their vehicles feel they need to speed down that road.

“My girl friend and I were wondering if a sign of some sort could be put up right where the Clear Creek Trail begins warning vehicles to SLOW DOWN; DEAD END; BEWARE OF DOGS AND PEDESTRIANS.

I know people live down that road to the right of the trail; people also like to park along the side of the road up by where the houses are but my goodness, is it really necessary to SPEED down that road?”

Kim, the friend Brenda mentions, says, “A dead end sign, no turn around, should be posted on the road right before the solid white line that outlines the trail. This would keep everyone safe.

The out basket: It’s surprising that there would be much traffic of any kind, let alone speeders on Schold past the dog park. It dead ends and there’s nowhere to go. Maybe the speeders think it’s a short cut to the freeway and find themselves even later than they thought they were when they have to double back.

Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works said County Traffic Engineer Jeff Shea happened upon Brenda and Kim while checking out the situation on Schold in response to their suggestion.

“He let them know that we’ll take a look at it and see what we can do,” Doug said.

The in basket:  Ted Moore writes, “I was involved (recently) in a rear-end collision, where a young driver stated that she glanced down at something and failed to notice that I was slowing for traffic. The result, a relatively slow-speed collision.

“While talking to the driver, I did notice that she did have a proof of
insurance card, but when I asked to see it, she refused. She did offer
information from her driver’s license, but not the insurance card.

“What information is required, by law, to be
shared between drivers in the event of an accident? And what are the
consequences if any information is refused to be shared?”

The out basket: Trooper Krista Hedstrom of the State Patrol here says refusing to provide insurance information to another involved driver in an accident is considered hit and run driving.

The law reads, “The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident … resulting in damage to any vehicle which is driven or attended by any person or damage to other property shall give his or her name, address, insurance company, insurance policy number, and vehicle license number and shall exhibit his or her vehicle driver’s license to any person struck or injured or the driver or any occupant of, or any person attending, any such vehicle collided with.

Krista said, “Failing to provide any information becomes hit and run.  If someone is involved in a collision and one driver will only provide limited information, call law enforcement.  Often, people are more willing to give the information if an officer is present.”

The law also addresses accidents in which someone is injured or killed, making refusal to provide the specified information in those cases a felony.