The in basket: Scot Harper writes, “I have a fire zone striping question and one about street lights.

“ We live in the new housing development off of Anderson Hill Road (near Gorst). In the last couple of weeks a red painted curb appeared on the new section of road in the development. This was expected as the streets are narrow and all the existing streets have a fire zone on one side.

“What was surprising was the side of street it was painted on.  The new section of street loops and connects two sections of Maritime Drive.  So the side the new fire zone is on makes no sense for several reasons.

– All the fire hydrants are on the outside side of the loop

– The inside only has three houses on the street on the south end and a park on the north side.

– With the fire lane on the inside there is no extra parking for anybody on the loop or people at the park

“So who decides what side of street the fire lane is on, and who can we talk to about changing it?

“The other question is how does the county (I am assuming) decide if an intersection needs a street light?  The intersection of Anderson Hill Road and Old Clifton Road could definitely use one now that there are 100-plus new houses down Anderson Hill Road and 200-plus more coming in the next two years.”

The out basket: Bremerton Fire Marshall Mike Six says he made the call on the striping.

“I directed the contractors where to place the fire lane.  Placement of fire lanes, which are required in this case, is at the sole direction of the fire marshal.  The decision was based on firefighting tactics and the direction the fire crews would be arriving from.

“My understanding is the parking requirement is satisfied and street parking is not generally considered as parking is not considered part of that requirement.”

Derek Skanes of the city added that the fire lane requirement is a section of the International Building Code adopted by the City of Bremerton.

“The real issue may be the scarcity of on-street parking and elimination of potential parking in narrow lots with front yard driveways,” he added.

The street light question is for the city of Port Orchard, where Public Works Director Mark Dorsey says, “The city is currently designing a roundabout at Anderson Hill Road /Old Clifton Road…….illumination will be included. The construction timeline is uncertain.”

In the meantime, the city is working with Puget Sound Energy to get a light mounted on one of the three utility poles near the intersection.

The in basket: Orange “Road Work Ahead” and “End of Road Work”  signs have sprouted on Highway 3 between Gorst and Highway 304 at Bremerton, and from Silverdale north, and around the Tremont/Old Clifton Road interchange on Highway 16.

I asked what will be done.

The out basket: Project Engineer Mary Lou Nebergall said drivers have been encountering nighttime lane closures in those areas this week, in preparation for repaving to begin Monday.

The westbound ramps at Tremont will be repaved, and the outside lane of Highway 16 from there to Gorst also will be.

All of Gorst will be repaved, and all four lanes between Gorst and Highway 304 will get new asphalt as well.

Two years ago, the outside northbound lane of Highway 3 from 304 to almost Anderson Hill Road in Silverdale was repaved. That work will resume in the outside lane from just south of Anderson Hill Road to the recently rebuilt 3-303 interchange, then pick back up around Trigger Avenue and continue to the Highway 308 interchange.

The state is doing more paving of just the outside lanes of  multi-lane highways to make the paving dollars go farther, Mary Lou said. Those lanes take more of a beating because that’s where large trucks must drive.

All work requiring closure of a lane will occur at night Mondays through Thursdays, she said. It will take more than a month before it’s all done, as the paving crews begin at Tremont and work their way north.

The in basket: A reader who went only by “A Kitsap County Driver” in an October e-mail asked, “Could you possibly persuade the county to install ‘signal when exiting’ signs on the roundabout on Anderson Hill (Road in Silverdale)?

“Most drivers signal when entering (although that is the only direction you can go) and not when exiting (or leave their blinkers on the entire way around).

“The county’s addition of the roundabout has been a great traffic revision and it flows much better – however it would flow just a bit smoother with some instructions for drivers,” the e-mail said. “Signage just seems to be a forgotten last step in this project.  “When Bainbridge installed a roundabout, I distinctly remember several well-marked signs.

“Braking due to not knowing the intentions of the person in front of you causes slowdowns which can also cause the stop-and-go scenarios.”

The out basket: I drive that roundabout just enough to know that it’s not round at all, but flat on the south side. It probably serves mostly straight-ahead traffic in both directions on Anderson Hill Road except when Central Kitsap Junior High is beginning or ending the day’s classes. For westbound traffic, it barely requires a driver to turn or slow down if a car isn’t coming around from the other direction.

I don’t know whether signaling by drivers would help, and the county isn’t inclined to post signs requiring it.

Jeff Shea, Kitsap County traffic engineer, says, “While signaling when exiting a roundabout is a courteous thing for drivers to do, I am not aware of any law that requires it. The only required sign for a  roundabout is the Yield sign that requires traffic entering a roundabout to give right of way to all traffic in the roundabout.

“I don’t know of an application where we’ve placed a sign at any other intersection that applies to using a turn signal, and don’t plan to place one at this intersection either,” Jeff said..

The in basket: Road Warrior readers have nominated two more intersections for  the flashing yellow left-turn arrows that Kitsap County has deployed in many places.

Bob Hoag says, “I think the blinking yellow left turn signals are great especially on Bucklin Hill Road in Silverdale.

However, it seems the county forgot one location. With the new Greaves Way connection to Waaga Way, and the significant increase in traffic on eastbound Anderson Hill Road, left turns onto Old Frontier Road (which feeds into Greaves Way) are piling up.  As a result, I was very surprised that the county didn’t add a blinking left-turn signal at the intersection on Anderson Hill Road and Old Frontier Road.

Warren Nadeau feels the same way about the signal on Highway 3 between Bremerton National Airport and the Olympic View Industrial Area.

“Cars trying to make a left turn into the airport or a left turn into the industrial area must sit with high speed traffic passing them for some time before the light changes,” Warren said. “Many times there are large gaps in traffic that would allow left turns to be made without stopping high speed traffic on the highway. It seems that it would be much safer and more efficient than having left turn traffic interfering with the highway traffic.

“To anyone trying to make a left turn for one or two minutes while at a dead stop, with full speed traffic passing within inches in both directions (head on and from behind), it is downright frightening.  You have no momentum to avoid a collision should someone move into your lane from behind or head on,” he said.

The out basket: There is no immediate hope for a yellow flasher at either location.

Jeff Shea, Kitsap County’s traffic engineer said of the intersection Bob mentions, “It’s a budget issue. The signals currently configured with flashing yellow lights were upgraded with new construction, or the upgrade was funded with development mitigation funds. We do not have budget available to pay for the upgraded equipment necessary to implement this technology at other intersections. We continue to look for opportunities to widen the use of flashing yellow light technology, as it’s been very well received by motorists.”

The airport signal is owned by the state, which has a policy that once a signal has been found to require one level of traffic control (such as a red arrow left-turn signal) it won’t go to a lesser degree of control without a significant improvement in the alignment of the intersection. That would prohibit either a yellow flashing left turn signal at the Highway 3 signal or that technology’s predecessor, a sign allowing left turns against a solid green ball light after yielding to all conflicting traffic.