Tag Archives: 11th Street

Pedestrians imperiled at 11th & Kitsap Way

The in basket: Nancy Danaher wrote in June 16 to say, “A couple of weeks ago while traveling south on Kitsap Way at about 7 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m., we nearly witnessed a horrific accident.

“When a person needs to cross Kitsap Way at 11th Street in Bremerton, a pedestrian light gives them the OK and the two right lanes heading south get the red light.

Now, if you are coming around that curve at too high a speed or not paying attention at all, you are believing you have a green light to cruise through. Not the case when someone needs to cross the street.  Two times that same evening someone was almost hit by vehicles because they did not stop at the red light.

“Yesterday afternoon it happened again,” Nancy said. “I was headed northwest on Kitsap Way (at) the red light. A gal was crossing and had the pedestrian light and around the corner comes a large pickup truck and barrels through what to him would have been a red light!.  Thank goodness the girl was still walking in our two lanes.

“How can vehicles be forewarned that the light around the curve is RED?” Nancy asked.

The out basket: I heard back from both Tom Knuckey and Jerry Hauth of Bremerton’s street engineers about this and it turns out that intersection is due some pedestrians improvements, part of a grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council

Tom said, “This intersection is included in a Bremerton Crosswalk Improvements project, scheduled for design this year, and construction in 2016,  We’re currently coordinating with a consultant for the design, and have brought this concern to their attention as they develop a  list of improvements to be constructed.

“Although there have been no accidents involving pedestrians at this location, and although the sight distance exceeds (federal) minimums, we are still concerned about it, as Nancy is.  We will look at all options, including additional advance warning signage.

“In the meantime, we have requested additional enforcement by our police department. We also get feedback from our officers that helps us with designing the safety improvements.  Nancy’s input was very much appreciated and will also become part of the project file.

Jerry, successor to Gunnar Fridriksson, who left the city to go to work for Clark County this spring, adds, “I don’t know what may come of this design process. But we can certainly consider (or include) some advanced warning if it is needed.

“I have some reservations about the benefit of an advanced warning on this site,” he said. “As I drive through it, at the speed limit, it appears to me that there is adequate time to come to a controlled stop (as needed). Also, as I understand the situation that prompted this concern, a truck had run a red light. Bad things can happen when people run red lights and I question if a warning would have changed any of that.”

 

 

Parking changes coming to Bremerton’s 11th Street

The in basket: Tiffany Royal and Willadean Howell of Bremerton are perplexed by the changes in parking on 11th Street east of Warren Avenue.

Tiffany says “The city/parking enforcement finally put up 2-hour signs on 11th Street, so folks can only park for two hours, Mon-Fri from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Since the parking was added on 11th between Warren and Pacific in 2013, the additional parking has been used, during those hours, by those who are obviously shipyard/downtown workers, from basically 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Parking on 11th is empty after work hours.
“Today, as I sit at my house, it’s a desert and as empty as it was when 11th was four lanes wide,” she said..
“Why put restrictions on these particular parking spaces?” she asked. “They’re not super premium like the ones closer to the downtown core (or are they, since employees used them?). And who are these spaces for anyway? Outside of the work week, 11th is just as empty as it is right now.

Willadean, who lives on Pleasant Avenue, said that due to cars in the parking spaces on 11th east of Pacific, where there is no time limit,  “it’s nearly impossible to get out of Pleasant onto 11th without nearly getting hit. You can’t see traffic coming.”

The out basket: Thomas Knuckey of the city traffic engineers said of the timed spaces west of Pacific, “the two-hour parking is an interim restriction that was put on 11th to address parking issues associated with adjacent construction; both the Washington Avenue project along with an apartment building on Highland.

“The issue is that limiting parking to two hours makes spaces available both for Washington Avenue residents, and also provides parking for service/construction vehicles who were using the on-street parking in and around Highland and causing issues for residents.

“It is anticipated this time restriction will be removed after the work is complete,” he said.

As for Willadean’s complaint, Tom said “We checked the sight distance and concur that it needs to be improved; we’re therefore eliminating parking on the south side of 11th between Pacific and Pleasant to address the issue.”

 

 

Flashing yellow lefts coming to four Bremerton intersections

The in basket: The Road Warrior column gets lots of requests to see the flashing yellow left-turn signals that Kitsap County has deployed in South Kitsap and Silverdale put to use at other intersections, including those in Bremerton. So far, Bremerton has declined to go to the expense.

But a major traffic headache coming to Bremerton this spring and summer will have as a happy by-product the introduction of the flashing yellows turn lights at four intersections where there are left turn pockets on Sixth Street between Wycoff and Warren avenues.

The city is having to close one of its busiest thoroughfares – 11th Street – between Montgomery and Naval avenues for the months of June and July, to replace a failing sewer line. Sixth Street will be the designated detour and the flashing yellows will provide the most green light time for the increased traffic on Sixth.

Another major street, Naval Avenue, will be closed to through-traffic between 11th and 13th streets for a period  to be determined. That also will add to the load on Sixth Street.

The flashing yellows will remain in place after the sewer work is done, said Gunnar Fridriksson of the city street engineers. Details about the sewer project can be found online at www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/articles.php?id=1864.

As for the yellow flashing signals,  “City crews will begin installation of the heads and hardware on the 15th of May, with activation by the end of the month,” Gunnar said .

The sewer project not only provides the need for the new style turn signal, it also is the source of the money to pay for them, he said.

For those who haven’t encountered the flashing yellow lefts, they mean that left turns are authorized but those turning must yield to oncoming traffic. They mean the same thing as the signs you’ll see at some Bremerton intersections that depict a green ball signal and say left turners must yield when the light is green.

They DO NOT mean left turners have the right of way. Only a green arrow means that.

Lane separation pylons on Kitsap Way need work

The in basket: Gary Lee saw a fender-bender in the rain a few weeks ago at Kitsap Way and 11th Street in Bremerton, in which two cars turning left side-by-side onto Kitsap Way bumped. It did a fair amount of damage to one of them, he said..

It caused him to ask about the upright pylons that normally separate the directions of travel  on Kitsap Way at that turn. Several of them are missing or lying flat. They might have kept the driver who left his lane to better judge the distance in that turn and avoid the accident, he thought. That should be taken care of, he said.

The out basket: I find those pylons to be  more helpful going the other way, turning right from the inside lane of 11th onto Kitsap Way.

Regardless of that, they’ll be replaced soon, says Colen Corey, head of the city of Bremerton street maintenance. “Those are called vertical delineators and they are replaced every spring after the threat of snow has passed,” he said. “They take a real beating during snow events, so we choose to wait on the replacement.”

I asked if drivers or snow plows do the most harm and Colen replied, “Mostly cars, but sometimes a plow may get into them too.” He suspects some drivers hit them on purpose, a form of vandalism.

Detection loop acting up at Park and 11th

The in basket: Gary Reed wrote in mid-July to say, “I’ve noticed the traffic signals at 11th Street and Park Avenue (in Bremerton) are defaulting to green on Park and red on 11th.  

“The last several weeks I along with several other cars have stopped on 11th to wait while the cycle runs,” he said, “only there has been no traffic on Park. Is this an intentional revision or is there something amiss with the controller?”

The out basket: There’s a problem with the controller, says Jeff Collins, who heads the city signal shop. 

“We are having some trouble with the detection loops,” he said. “The ones on Park keep sticking on and have to be reset.

“The loops need replacing but until finances get better we will continue to reset them when we get notified,” he said. Call (360) 473-5920 from 7:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday to report this or any water, sewer, traffic

sign and traffic signal issues in the city. Leave a message after hours.