The in basket: On my intermittent trips between Port Orchard and Belfair, I’ve noticed that the underbrush has been removed from beneath the power lines on the west side of Highway 3 between Gorst and Sunnyslope Road. The clearing is about the width of a road, but with the power poles in the way, that didn’t seem like a probable explanation for the work. Trucks for Potelco, Puget Sound Energy’s repair contractor, are often in the area.

I asked PSE what’s up.

The out basket: Akiko Oda, spokeswoman for PSE replied, “We have several projects along State Route 3 slated for this year:

– A tree wire project along SR 3 beginning at Sunnyslope Road to the end of PSE’s line, just south of Lake Flora Road (about 4.3 miles). This project replaces the center conductor with tree wire.”

Tree wire is a specially coated, overhead wire that’s designed to prevent an electric short (and subsequent outage) when a tree limb falls into a power line, a PSE Web site says. “Where installed, it significantly reduces the frequency of tree-related outages, but cannot prevent all disruptions (e.g. if an entire tree falls into a power line),” it says.

”As a permitting requirement, we’ll be working 20 feet from the fog line and also conducting some night work, which will require closing a lane of traffic,” she said. The work began last month and is expected to take four months.

– “Overhead and underground construction work along SR 3 from North Birch Avenue W to Sunnyslope Road. We’ll be installing a second circuit and rebuilding the existing circuit using tree wire (about 1.3 miles).

– “Rebuilding the distribution line from SR 3 along Victory Drive, east along Old Clifton, stopping at Feigley Road (about 2.8 miles).

A PSE Web site has more information, under its “In Your Community” link

The in basket: The impending work to replace the culverts that run beneath highways 16 and 166 in Gorst to allow Anderson Creek to flow better seems likely to be a traffic headache perhaps less than what has been happening in Seattle and Snohomish County, but significant.

I wondered exactly where the creek passes beneath the highways, knowing that the state had to unplug a culvert a few years back just on the Port Orchard side of the turnaround for those wanting to go back to Gorst. And, of course, I wondered how the state hopes to get that many cars through a work zone that will, of necessity, involve digging up the pavement.

The out basket: My recollection of the culvert east of the turnaround just clouded the issue, as the creek is west of there, on the other side of the turnaround. I notice there are even signs on the shoulder saying “Anderson Creek.”

Claudia Bingham-Baker, spokeswoman for the Olympic Region of state highways, says, “In this project, crews will replace culverts that run under SR 16, SR 166 and Anderson Hill Road near Gorst. The existing culverts, which are each about 5 feet in diameter, will be replaced with three 3-sided 18-foot-wide concrete box culverts.

“The work will take place between June and October, and the contractor is proposing to do the work in three stages.  Each stage will have a concurrent detour route.

“We expect the contractor to first tackle the culvert that runs under SR 166,” she said. “That work will require a several-week total closure of SR 166. We will detour traffic onto Tremont Street and Port Orchard Boulevard.  Local traffic will still be able to use SR 166, but only to the physical closure point.” That’s the same detour used whenever a slide closed 166 in the past.

“We think the next culvert will be one that runs under westbound SR 16,” she said. “During that work, we’ll detour westbound SR 16 traffic into the highway median with a reduced speed limit (of 35 mph) and we’ll keep the westbound direction of the SR 166 detour in place.

“We expect the last culvert to be replaced is the one that runs under eastbound SR 16 and Anderson Hill Road.  That culvert will require eastbound SR 16 to use the highway median, again at a reduced speed limit (of 35 mph) and a closure of Anderson Hill Road.

“Specific dates for all this work and the roadway closures will be forthcoming as the contractor gets mobilized on site” she said “Initial detour maps and other information about the project can be found on our project web site:  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr16/andersoncreekfishbarriers/

That Web site says work will begin in mid-July and says, “All in-stream work will occur in late summer through Oct. 15 to meet environmental requirements and accommodate fish windows.

“In 2013, a federal court injunction required the state to significantly increase the state’s efforts in removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon and steelhead,” the site says.

It’s a $9.5 million project.

“Note the order of work and schedule are still preliminary and subject to change,” Claudia said.

The in basket: Sam Watland read the recent Road Warrior column about Kitsap County turning the dead end of Hawthorne Avenue in Gorst  over to the adjacent property owners through a process called “vacating” it and asked some questions.

“Who now owns the property in question?” he asked. “What does it mean for the county to ‘vacate’ the property? Was it sold to someone or now does it belong to the state? If no one owns it then isn’t it considered public property?”

The out basket: Molly Foster, right-of-way supervisor for Kitsap County Public Works, says, “The County initiated this road vacation to release public liability and any question of maintenance for this area, which is only a portion of the roadway. Per RCW 36.87.010, the county commissioners can declare its intention to vacate a right of way and did approve the vacation on March 19, 2015.

“This right of way did not connect to Highway 3 and the adjacent owners, H.D. Fowler and Robert Mathwig, were both contacted. They both supported the vacation and acknowledged they would regain part of this area as their private property.

“When the County ‘vacates’ right of way, it simply releases the easement for road use lifting the public’s interest off the area and it reverts back to its origin which in this case was split between the two adjacent owners.

“There was no compensation recommended back to the county because the county initiated the action. A sale of county-owned land is an entirely separate process and action.

The in basket: On recent trips out to Belfair and back, I have been eying the centerline striping on the downgrade from Sunnyslope Road to Gorst on Highway 3. It begins as a double yellow line, which I would expect, but part way down, it turns into a skip stripe for downhill traffic. There a two lanes uphill and one downhill at that point

Normally a skip stripe denotes a place you can pass. I faintly recall a sign along there years ago that said something about downhill traffic having to yield to uphill traffic, but it’s been gone a long time.

I wondered if passing is legal there by crossing over the skip stripe into the uphill lanes. There is so much uphill traffic there, that even if the inside lane was empty when one started to pass, a car in the outside lane could move into the lane you’re using to pass at any moment.

I’d have to be following someone going no more than 25 miles per house before I’d dare try it.

I included a similar alignment of Highway 104 where it intersects US 101 at Discovery Bay in Jefferson County when I asked.

The out basket: State Trooper Russ Winger, who speaks for the patrol here, says, “It is legal to pass in that situation unless posted no passing. If there is traffic in the outside lane then it is not legal to pass as they have the right of way.  The downhill car must yield to all uphill traffic.”

So if there is oncoming traffic in EITHER uphill lane close enough that you can’t get back into the downhill lane before meeting it, it’s illegal to pass there.

“It is NOT advisable to do this in the area south of Gorst,” Russ said. “The speeds here are very high and traffic volume is also very high. The cross street at Division also makes this dangerous.

“It is also legal to do so in a portion of the section on US101 you describe. This is a straight section approximately two miles in length. It is also very dangerous and not advisable to pass here due to the high speeds and volume of Peninsula traffic, especially during the tourist season.

“A year or two back we had a fatality collision involving a motorcycle traveling east that had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with a vehicle making such a pass ‎traveling west. The rider died. We were not able to locate the car but had witness information that the pass occurred and was improper and dangerous,” he said.

The in basket: My neighbor Teresa Adams said she and her son had a dispute the other day about whether there is a brief 35 mile per hour speed limit in Gorst, with a 40 mph zone on each side of it.

She lost the contest, as she contended there were no signs saying that. When she looked closely, there they were, she said, one in each direction.

The out basket: I had to look carefully too, as the one heading toward Bremerton is tucked under the overpass. I had to get pretty close to it to see the 35 mph segment, which is beneath an arrow indicating a curve. I didn’t drive all the way to Bremerton and return to check that the other direction has one, but Don Palmer of Gorst has complained a couple of times in the past that an arrow sign warning people coming from Bremerton of the upcoming curve isn’t sufficient warning, so I’ll assume it has 35 mph shown beneath it too.

But they aren’t speed limit signs. Yellow signs indicating a speed are advisory. You can’t be ticketed for going faster if you’re within the speed limit otherwise posted. Only the white signs with black lettering are enforceable with a ticket for exceeding the speed shown.

So, for example, the 35 mph sign approaching Ross Point coming out of Port Orchard is advisory, as is the 10 mph sign facing Highway 303 traffic about to turn to go north on Highway 3 in Silverdale. Both are yellow. There are hundreds of other examples in the county, many just before a speed hump.

I find that I can do 10 mph faster than the speeds shown on those yellow signs without any discomfort making the curve (most are posted at curves). Of course, if you’re driving a big awkward top-heavy vehicle and tip over, or hit an oncoming vehicle, you can be ticketed for going too fast for conditions, even if you got down to the advised speed.