The in basket: A Fourth Street resident in West Bremerton who signed herself “a grumpy constituent” wrote, “I live on 4th between Naval and Hewitt. The bulb-outs on the north and south sides of Fourth Street near Kiwanis Park (between Veneta and Hewitt) still extend dangerously out into the road to the point that there is no two-way traffic. Someone always pulls over, panicked, to let the other pass.
“There is still no painted center line (perhaps a center line would be enough to let drivers know it was safe to turn it back into a two-way street). There is still no lighting or iridescent marking on the curbs to let you know the bulb-outs are there in the dark and in the fog.
“I almost did a head-on on my way in or almost smacked into the bulb-out at Fourth and Veneta (going east), or almost smacked into the first bulb-out on Fourth going west on my way home the night before.”
The out basket: Jerry Hauth, Bremerton’s new managing engineer for streets, thanked grumpy constituent for bringing this to his attention.
“I am relatively new with the city,” he said, “and I wanted a little time to get familiar with the circumstances out there.
“I was on-site this week and I saw the large bulb-outs at the pedestrian crossings. We measured the road width at the bulb-outs and found that it is wide enough to allow two cars to pass safely. But, it is much narrower than the rest of the road with the hopes it will slow traffic for safety purposes.
“You may have noticed that there was no paint striping done this year. The city and the county are still trying to work out the wording on our interagency agreement. We need to have this in place – prior to the county painting our centerlines. Hopefully, we will have this resolved for next year.
“In the interim, at the location we are discussing, I was thinking that a few reflective buttons along the centerline in the area of the bulb-outs would enhance the visibility and may provide the comfort for those drivers not familiar with the area. In addition, a reflective plastic post or reflective markers, in the planter near the edge of the bulb-outs, could help define and delineate the bulb-outs also.
“Let me see what I can do to address your concerns,”he told her.
