The in basket: Keri Heber was stuck in traffic on Bremerton’s 11th Street Oct. 30, caught with other drivers behind someone waiting to turn left onto Naval, while the westbound lanes were reduced from three to one.
“While commuting home at about 5 p.m. westbound on 11th,” she wrote, ‘I found myself in a backup, all the way to High Street, because left turns are still allowed from 11th to Naval. Since there is only one lane, any car turning left and waiting for westbound traffic to clear will hold
up the eastbound traffic. And then the backup gets worse for those of us patiently waiting, as cars come across High Street in the right lane to
jump into the waiting line.
“Why are left turns still allowed onto Naval?” She asked. “There are plenty of streets prior to Naval, such as High, where left turns could have been routed.
The out basket: Bill Davis, project engineer for the sewer main work that caused the reduction to one lane, says, “We discussed whether to restrict the turn from westbound 11th to southbound Naval extensively, taking into consideration that traffic would likely back up on 11th Street at times.
“Ultimately, our decision was informed by our experience of the traffic revision at 6th and Warren earlier in the project, where we received several complaints because we restricted turns at that location. Based on our experience at that intersection, we decided to minimize restrictions for this temporary revision at 11th and Naval and continue to allow the movement.
“Unfortunately we’ve been delayed with getting the intersection back open because we are unable to asphalt pave during heavy rain,” he said.
Wow, traffic backed up all the way to High Street, what’s that about a quarter of a mile… wah! There are plenty of streets prior to Naval that she could have turned on to avoid the backup too! What a bunch of whiners!!
The reason why Traffic is backing up on 11th from Naval is because you have way too many drivers taking way too long to get up to speed not only that you have drivers who wait too long at the light before going. This results in traffic backing on 11th trying to make the turn onto Naval. Also the Speed limit on Navel between 11th and 6th is 20 miles per hour and with the slower speed can also result in traffic backups. The only time Traffic should be 20 is during the school day, only not all the time. Using the back streets presents problems in itself resulting in residents saying we don’t the extra traffic and asking the City of Bremerton to either close off the end of the street like they did at the intersection of 11th and Montgomery. or place speed bumps in the street which causes unnecessary damage to most vehicles.
On know the following video may not be on 11th Ave Bremerton, but this give you a true example as to true driving in the State of Washington.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRBOP56rhqk
Even on Roads in Port Orchard, you have the same problem. Downtown Port Orchard in the afternoon traffic backs up for at time more than a mile and takes nearly 25 minutes to get thru.