Road Warrior

The in basket: Two readers – Louis Oliver and Paul Goodwin – thought Kitsap County wasted a lot of money in the way it went about repaving Central Valley Road between Bucklin Hill and Holland roads in August.

Louis said, “If you (go to) that part of Central Valley Road just north of Fairgrounds Road, you will find the road is torn up.

“However, just last week the county ripped up 40 percent of this same part of the road and repaved it.

“This week they are ripping up the same road and redoing it. It appears to be around 65 percent of the road this time and, yes, they ripped out the newly patched parts again, after just a few days.

“Why? Did the county come into money it does not need?”

Paul said he drives down Central Valley Road daily, and observed the patch paving between Holland and Bucklin Hill.

Then, starting Monday, he said, road crews were out grinding out the whole road, including the asphalt they had just laid down.

He thinks it’s a giant waste of money for the flagger, equipment and materials for the patch paving, and “now they are doing it all over again.”

The out basket: As is usually the case, there is a method to what appears to be madness. Don Schultz, Kitsap County Road Superintendent, explains the process.

“Full depth patching on this section of road was completed to a depth of 4 inches,” he said.  “The patches were in response to distressed areas subject to heavy truck and bus traffic.

“A condition review of the existing paved shoulders showed they were still in very good condition, and did not need an overlay,” he said. “This allowed us to consider a partial overlay that can result in significant cost savings.

“If you do not overlay the full width of a road surface you must establish a vertical butt joint at the edge of the paving limits. The process of creating that butt joint could lead a passing motorist to conclude we were grinding out the patches we just placed.

“A butt joint is established by grinding a depth of 1½ inches at the outer edge of the travel way to level near the center line of the road. This butt joint did overlap some areas previously patched. We could have left the patches below grade in the interim period between patching and the overlay, but that would have created some safety concerns.

“Using this approach to limit the overlay to the actual travel lanes and creating a butt joint to support that resulted in saving about 600 tons of asphalt, reducing the overlay cost by $40,000 in material alone. The associated labor costs are also lowered by limiting the overlay to the traffic lanes.

“Some of the fresh patch material was removed, but considering the safety concerns a 1½-inch drop-off would cause in the interim, and the savings created by this approach, I felt the tradeoff was acceptable.

“It’s also important for readers to know that the asphalt we did remove from the patch is ground up and reused as fill material for shoulder work,” Don said.

The in basket: Sharon Anderson wrote on Dec. 3 to say, “It happened again the night of Nov 28 at the intersection of Central Valley and McWilliams (roads) . Someone whipped around the turn from Central Valley onto McWilliams, flew over the sidewalk, and crashed through someone’s fence and landed in their back yard.

“This is the third time that I know of,” she said. “A while back another vehicle wound up in someone’s back yard on Central Valley at the same intersection.  There have been other accidents at this intersection, as well.

“McWilliams is a virtual speed way on many nights,” Sharon said. “Someday, someone will be standing or walking on that same sidewalk or be in their backyard when another vehicle crashes through and possibly injures or kills that person.

“This intersection needs a flashing red light to get people on Central Valley to stop before turning onto McWilliams or some other solution to keep vehicles from turning at such a high speed that they lose control. It is only a matter of time before the next accident.”

The out basket: Jeff Shea, Kitsap County’s traffic engineer, says some signing improvements are the most likely upgrade to happen there soon.

“The number of collisions at the intersection of Central Valley and McWilliams ranks the intersection 16^th in the county,” he said. “While that does not make this intersection the highest priority, it does provide a cue to evaluate the intersection for possible improvements in the future. There was an average of three collisions per year during the past seven years.

“This number represents an expected occurrence of collisions compared to similar intersections on a national scale. Based on the traffic volumes through the McWilliams and Central Valley intersection – about 10,000 vehicles a day – that works out to a little less than one collision per 1,000,000 vehicles that enter the intersection.

“The significance of that number is that we can compare it to national standards. So our rate is 0.914 and the national rate for comparison is 0.990. We are in the right range when compared to the national rate.  We have or will be installing some signage improvements at or near the intersection.

“In regards to your reader’s request for a flashing red light four-way stop, we use the (federal) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. (Its) criteria are very specific as it relates to four-way stops. The primary (reason) for installing a four-way stop is reducing traffic delays.

“In most four-way-stop scenarios, one or two legs of the intersection have to wait an unreasonable amount of time before making their turning movement.

“At this intersection, the major movements do not conflict with each other and delays there are minimal.  Installing a four-way stop (would)require about 6,000 vehicles a day to stop there. Stopping that many cars increases fuel usage, and contributes to air and noise pollution. It also adds to, rather than alleviates, delays to motorists.

Central Valley pot holes

The in basket: Mitch Hailey of Bremerton e-mailed two weeks ago to protest the condition of Central Valley Road, including with his message several photographs of ruts and pot holes left by a sewer excavation between Alexis Drive and Holland Road. 

“While riding my motorcycle on this road and with no warning, I found myself having to dodge one danger after another and coming very close to dumping my bike,” Mitch said.

“Having just survived a crash where an irresponsible dog owner allowed their pet to play in the roadway unrestrained, I am very sensitive to preventable dangers placing others at risk.  Someone needs to be providing oversight of these construction projects for safety’s sake.”

The out basket:  Jacques Dean, Kitsap County’s project manager and the overseer of this county project by Buno Construction, said he sent the contractor copies of Mitch’s photos and ordered that more attention be paid the condition of the road after each day’s work.

The workers are to make a daily patch of the road they disturb that day, Jacques said, but weren’t taking enough time raking out the hot asphalt mix before it was rolled. Rain and traffic produced the conditions in Mitch’s photos.

The work the day after Mitch wrote was a lot better, Jacques said. 

Since then, two readers have disagreed. 

On Oct.27, Sheldon Cherrey wrote, “Well,  I traveled that road last night. The road is worse than the  

last time I drove it. Possibly due to the rain “

And Louis Oliver wrote Saturday to say he found “that a forest service road that has not seen a grader in over two years would be the smoother of the two. If it is the county that is doing the repairs after the pipe is replaced, the job should be out-sourced. If a contractor is doing the job, they should be fined and replaced. Then I wonder who should pay for my dental work? Yes, it is that bad.”

Tina Nelson of the county, filling in for Jacques, who was away from work last week, had this to say about the latest complaints:

“Last week the contractor was directed to spend more time (and money …) on maintaining the patch.  I drove it yesterday, and I thought it was an acceptable patch at the time. 

“The catch is that the patch is only temporary,” she said. “The same trench needs to be dug up again to install the new force main, starting the second week of November, over the gravity sewer that has already been installed.  It is our intent to keep the patch safe, but at the same time be cost conscious. 

“If travelers go slow, allow the extra few minutes, or use an alternate route, we will not be forced to spend additional precious dollars on a temporary patch.  

 ”Patience,” she urged. The final product, when the sewer installation is complete, will be like a brand new road surface.  Permanent restoration in Central Valley Road is currently scheduled to start in mid-December, which includes final asphalt paving.  Asphalt paving, of course, is weather dependent.”   

The in basket: Harry Godwin of Bremerton commented on the September Road Warrior about why the traffic signal at Highway 308 at Central Valley Road had been blinking red and yellow.

“The answer was that a new switch was required

for this intersection (and) that this could be a funding

problem as replacement of the switch was not in the budget,” Harry recalled.

“Just a short distance from this intersection is an inactive traffic signal

that once controlled traffic in and out of a side gate to (the) Keyport

naval base. The gate is closed and barricaded, indicating that in the post-911 years, the gate will never be used as a point of egress to the base

again.”

 Harry suggested the state use that light and/or its controls at 308 and Central Valley.

The out basket: Actually, says Don Anders of the Olympic Region signal shop, that answer was that “we may have to replace this unit, but our crew was able to make repairs and the cabinet has not been in flash since these repairs were made. 

“I also mentioned that the cost of a replacement was prohibitive at this time, but if we could come up with a good reliable used unit we would replace this unit.  

“I know that early next year we have a project on SR 161(in Pierce County) that will free up a cabinet that we can use at this location,” he said.  

“The cabinet that Harry points out belongs to the Department of the Navy and is not ours to use, and I know from past practice that the military does not give up inventory easily.”  

 ”We have not had any problems since the repair was made and I feel we can get by until next year when we can replace the cabinet.” 

The in basket: Susan Day Carlson e-mails to say, “Now that Tracyton Boulevard and Myhre Road are closed for construction, the detour route at Bucklin Hill and Nels Nelson backs up terribly on Nels Nelson at the end of the day for commuters. 

“Can’t the county provide a traffic director during this time?” she asks.

The out basket: No, says Doug Bear of the county public works staff, but the suffering will end soon. Nels Nelson isn’t the official detour anyway, though drivers familiar with the area use it.

“The detour was routed using Central Valley and the signalized intersection at Bucklin Hill because of this concern,” Doug said. “I recognize this adds time to the commute, but the cost to provide additional traffic control, either through a temporary signal or traffic control staff, is prohibitive. 

“The work requiring the detour is scheduled to be completed by (Sept. 25),” he said.

The out basket: Mike McDermott of Poulsbo writes that at least twice in the first week of September, “the traffic signal at Central Valley Road and Highway 308 (the road to Keyport) was flashing red instead of their usual red/green/yellow sequence. 

“This intersection is usually busy, even on weekends without the Navy traffic to Keyport,” Mike said. “At first, I thought it must be a glitch, but if this was done on purpose i want to know.

“This is a potentially dangerous intersection,” he said. “Because of the hills and curves that approach it, visibility of approaching traffic from the other directions is limited.”

At 11 a.m. one Sunday, he said, “when I approached the intersection, cars in three directions were just sitting there. No one was moving because no one could figure out who got there first.”

He wondered who he could call to find out what is happening with the light.

The out basket: Don Anders of the Olympic Region signal shop for state highways says, “We are having problems in this signal cabinet and our crew has been working with it to solve the problem.” They go to all-way flashing red when the problem arises or they are working on it. 

“This cabinet is over 20 years old and may have to be replaced,” Don said, “but a new unit is $25,000 and we are trying to fix the problem before we (have to) replace it.  As we all know funding is very tight for the state and we are working hard to do the right thing.”

People like Mike with a concern about a signal on a state highway in the region can call him at  (360) 357-2616, Don said.

The rules at all-way stops apply when all four directions have a flashing red. The topography Mike describes at 308 and Central Valley is difficult, but all drivers stopped at the light can easily see one another. If they are too timid to sort it out among themselves with eye contact, a wave of the hand and/or a cautious start by one of the cars, all drivers must yield to a car on their right. With only three cars stopped in the situation Mike describes, one of them will have no one to the right and should start first.

The in basket: Cathy Houston brings up a familiar subject, danger to pedestrians and school children on Central Valley Road’s shoulders. 

“As we all know, there are several schools in the vicinity,” she said. “Students are walking in the area in all types of weather and in all levels of darkness.

“Traffic is extremely bad at the Central Valley/Fairgrounds intersection. Cars treat the fog line as just another lane marker and use the shoulder as another driving lane. 

“I would like to see some rumble edging along the fog line for the length of the road from Foster Road to McWilliams Road, letting the drivers know in a very obvious way that they have crossed out of their lane,” she said.

She also thinks the fact that a crosswalk at the Fairgrounds Road intersection that continues past the edge line, which others in the area do not, contributes to the danger by “giving drivers a false sense of where the edge of the road is.”

The out basket: Cathy had already contacted Kitsap County Public Works to no avail before writing to me, so she won’t be much surprised by their answer.

“Without a physical barrier (curb, gutter and sidewalk) some motorists do not respect the shoulder area of the roadway,” says Jeff Shea, the county’s traffic engineer.

“It is against the law to drive on the shoulder, except for emergencies and certain other legitimate reasons, but motorists do it anyway. We have tried bumps or tubular markers at other locations and motorists simply drive over them or take them out, and they eventually disappear. 

“I don’t think rumble strips have the desired impact,” he continued. “Rumble strips are designed to alert drowsy and inattentive motorists when they leave the roadway. They have a great track record for reducing run-off-the-road accidents on highways. They are less effective as a method to keep motorists from driving on shoulders. 

“Most motorists drive over them, since they don’t present a physical barrier of any kind, and make the turn on the shoulder.  The white edge line is very visible and makes it clear to the motorist that they are on the shoulder. 

“Rumble strips also present a hazard to bicyclists,” he said, “which is why we leave gaps between series of rumble strips.” 

Cathy’s concerns will be considered in the planning of a $1 million-plus redo of the Central Valley-Fairgrounds intersection in 2012, he said.

In the meantime, “we will remove the (crosswalk) bars in the shoulder and better mark the shoulder area with an edge line clearly visible around the curve radius as part of our pavement marking program this summer,” Jeff said. 

“There is a major sewer project impacting the south side of the intersection. We will mark the north side initially, and complete the south side after the sewer project is completed.”

The in basket: I found myself in an unfamiliar place Monday afternoon, though certainly it’s well-known to hundreds of our readers. I rarely use Central Valley Road near Fairgrounds Road, because of the school zones there, and don’t recall the last time I was there at school-closing time.

But Monday I wound up northbound on Central Valley approaching Fairgrounds Road about 3 p.m.

“What a zoo,” I remarked to myself, as the cars ahead of me barely moved while I could see the light was green and should have been moving traffic. I decided to count how many seconds elapsed between the light turning green again and my moving forward. I wondered if school children in the crosswalk were keeping turning traffic from moving, holding up everyone behind them, and whether it was a daily thing for drivers there.

Instead, I wound up counting the length of the green light because it turned yellow after only 10 seconds. Obviously, not many cars got through.

I asked the county if that’s normal behavior for that light.

The out basket: No, says Callene Abernathy of county public works. At least one citizen called in the same complaint Monday night and a signal technician found

that the signal was not operating correctly.  The technician did a temporary fix, she said, and others were to go out Tuesday to see what is wrong with the signal.

The in basket: E-mailers Priscilla & Rudy Barrilleaux of Bremerton say “For the last two weeks there has been a survey crew working on Central Valley Road from Waaga Way to now just beyond Fairgrounds  

Road.  I was wondering if you could please find out the reason for  

the survey?”

They worried that Central Valley might grow to four lanes, Priscilla said.

The out basket: Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works says it’s advance work for the 2012 revision of the intersection of Fairgrounds and Central Valley roads . The county has earmarked $1.14 million for the work, so it will be a fairly substantial job, but preliminary engineering won’t begin for a year, says Doug, so there’s no word on how it will be configured. He’s heard no talk of replacing the signals with a roundabout, he said.

The in basket: Colleen Wells is alarmed by the close proximity of Vena Avenue to the curve in Central Valley Road where Vena intersects it. “You can’t see cars coming around that corner,” she said, “and they can’t see cars on Vena … especially if it’s a small car in the afternoon.” The speed limit there is 35 mph.

The out basket: I was surprised at how quickly I arrived at Vena after negotiating that curve when I tested it, but I also noticed a 25-mph advisory sign for those approaching the curve. 

And I did manage to see an approaching car northbound on Central Valley over the top of the hedge as I waited in my Mazda 3 to pull out from Vena. But it wasn’t a small car. 

I asked the county about the intersection. 

The out basket: Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works said,  “This type of question is routed to our traffic inspectors (which is what I did with this request.) If the sight distance-inhibiting vegetation is within county-owned rights-of-way, we can trim it. Otherwise we do communicate with the property owner to clear the obstruction.

“As to improving that particular intersection, it would require rebuilding (it). That means acquiring more right-of-way and a capital engineering project which would be considered along with, and compete against, the other capital projects on the Transportation Improvement Plan.”

The plan is updated late each year and looks out six years. Vena at Central Valley isn’t mentioned in the current plan.