The in basket: Merilee Kuklinski of East Bremerton was surprised when a stop sign went up early one day in mid-August on Winfield Avenue in its downgrade at 14th Street in Bremerton. She was even more surprised that no warning of the change was made, such as a red flag on the new sign.
She said the fellow who installed it before sun up that day was yelling at drivers who blew through it without stopping. She thought to herself, ‘Hey, you just installed it!”
I was curious about the reason this intersection, a three-way stop for as long as I can recall, now is a four-way stop. Another stop sign, stopping Winfield traffic at Lower Wheaton Way, is a short distance ahead. You can see it rising like a moon over the new stop sign as one drives downhill on Winfield.
The out basket: Though on a city street, the modification was done by the state as part of its detour route during closure of the Harkins-Lower Wheaton intersection for construction of a roundabout at the east end of the new Manette Bridge.
But it was visible sooner than expected, said Jeff Cook, project engineer on the bridge job.
“The sign should have been covered until the detour went into effect on Sept. 6,” he said. “Unfortunately it was not. It was brought to our attention, and the contractor took immediate corrective action in covering the sign.
“I will review the temporary signing and, based on user
feedback, look
into providing advanced warning signs to avoid confusion when the
switch is made,” he said.
“The Wheaton/Harkins intersection closure will last approximately
5-6 weeks and is necessary to finish construction of the
underground
utilities as well as build the new roundabout.,” he added. “The
detour will utilize 14th and Pitt Avenue.”
