The in basket: Josh Farley of the Sun reporting staff said following the lengthy closure of the highway in Gorst recently, “Several people today have asked on the Kitsap Sun’s Facebook page if the state’s Department of Transportation has ever considered putting cameras through the highway intersections in Gorst.
“As you know, there was a tragic crash this morning in the area and many people’s commutes were also affected. I wondered if you knew how many cameras WSDOT maintains in Kitsap County and if the state has thought of Gorst at all.”
The out basket: Doug Adamson of the Olympic Region’s public affairs staff says, “(We’re) considering adding a new camera at the SR 3/SR 304 interchange in 2017-2018. If funding is available, (we) would like to add a second camera in Gorst near the SR 3 and SR 16 interchange. Currently there is a camera at the intersection of SR 3 and Sam Christopherson Avenue. This camera along with 22 others can be seen on our Hood Canal Bridge Area Traffic Alerts and Cameras webpage,” he said.
The Christopherson camera was installed to guide drivers on the detour route while the Hood Canal Bridge was closed a few years ago and remains in place.
“Drivers looking for information about collisions on a state highway can find frequently updated information around-the-clock via WSDOT’s online travel tools,” Doug continued. “Those include our travel alerts web page, email updates, and WSDOT’s free mobile app.”
· Gorst area camera http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficalerts/default.aspx
· WSDOT Travel Alerts web page http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/hoodcanal/default.aspx?cam=3084
· Email updates https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADOT/subscriber/new
· Mobile app http://www.wsdot.com/Inform/mobile.htm
There also is a traffic map on the Kitsap Sun Web page, which depicts slowdowns, though I can’t say how accurate it is. It’s provided by the paper’s corporate parent and the local staff doesn’t know a lot about it. It has no camera images.
Having another camera in Gorst would be a grand idea. Especially one that shows traffic in both directions. The one that is at the red light on Hwy 3 in my opinion does not really show anything except the intersection. As someone who works on the Highways and Interstates I use the WSDOT app all the time. It keeps me posted when I am out there doing traffic control for lane and road closures. But the one problem with the camera system is if there is a bad enough accident, WSDOT will turn off the cameras. So when you open the WSDOT app and it says there is an accident or lane closure for what ever reason and the camera is shut off, then a driver cannot tell if there is a backup except by the redlines in the traffic section. But for the most part, since there are always backups ranging from Gorst all the way to PSNS and vice versa depending on morning or evening, then drivers tend to ignore it because there is always backups. And WSDOT does not always update accidents on their app unless it is really serious. Because there are so many accidents on Washington roads that there is no way for them to keep up. So they only keep track mostly of backups and accidents along the I-5 corridor, unless there is a fatality. With the accident that happened in Gorst, if there was a camera there, it most definitely would have been off, because there was a fatality.
And another thing about that accident in Gorst, even if WSDOT had cameras on, and kept up the update on status of traffic, etc. There really is no alternate route for drivers to take to avoid the backup. I know that troopers started sending traffic up the 3 to the red light to go around, but by the time they thought about that, it was to late. Traffic was already backed up. And if the accident would have happened right at the HWY3/HWY16 split, then there would have been no way of getting around, because as far as I know, there is no alternate route around Gorst. HINT HINT