The in basket: With completion of the latest segment of the Mosquito Fleet Trail in Port Orchard, I realized that I had no idea how the trail will progress from its present terminus just west of the Marlee Apartment. It looks like the next stretch will be difficult. Will it go around the Marlee on the water side or stay in front of the apartments? If so, for how long.
So I asked Mark Dorsey, the city’s public works director.
The out basket: It turns out I haven’t been keeping my eye on the ball on this project. While the stretch that now ends at the Marlee was being done and traffic was rerouted to the center lane of Bay Street to make room for the work, another phase was being quietly completed, out of my sight.
That segment, paved, fenced and landscaped, passes behind the Westbay Center building, ending at a temporary concrete ecology block at Beach Drive. Its completion will be recognized in a ceremony soon.
Mark furnished me with a set of the elaborate drawings of the trail done for the city by N.L. Olson & Associates. They show that the segment of the trail at Rockwell Street will pass between the Marlee and Bay Street, with leveling of the surface and removal of some poles, a hydrant and elevated sidewalk to make way for it, then curve to the north and the Sinclair Inlet shoreline. It will follow the shoreline behind the Comfort Inn and curve around Titus Ford until it’s almost across Blackjack Creek from the gazebo at Etta Turner Park on the Westbay Center property.
A pedestrian bridge then will cross the creek, connecting the trail to its completed Westbay section.
From where that segment ends now, it’s fairly straightforward. Existing plans show it passing in front of the various buildings on the water side of Bay Street, with portions of the street moving a few feet inland. The trail will proceed to its final terminus at the Annapolis ferry dock.
