Tag Archives: traffic camera

Gorst needs traffic cameras, say Facebook posters

The in basket: Josh Farley of the Sun reporting staff said following the lengthy closure of the highway in Gorst recently, “Several people today have asked on the Kitsap Sun’s Facebook page if the state’s Department of Transportation has ever considered putting cameras through the highway intersections in Gorst.

“As you know, there was a tragic crash this morning in the area and many people’s commutes were also affected. I wondered if you knew how many cameras WSDOT maintains in Kitsap County and if the state has thought of Gorst at all.”

The out basket: Doug Adamson of the Olympic Region’s public affairs staff says, “(We’re) considering adding a new camera at the SR 3/SR 304 interchange in 2017-2018. If funding is available, (we) would like to add a second camera in Gorst near the SR 3 and SR 16 interchange. Currently there is a camera at the intersection of SR 3 and Sam Christopherson Avenue. This camera along with 22 others can be seen on our Hood Canal Bridge Area Traffic Alerts and Cameras webpage,” he said.

The Christopherson camera was installed to guide drivers on the detour route while the Hood Canal Bridge was closed a few years ago and remains in place.

“Drivers looking for information about collisions on a state highway can find frequently updated information around-the-clock via WSDOT’s online travel tools,” Doug continued. “Those include our travel alerts web page, email updates, and WSDOT’s free mobile app.”

·         Gorst area camera http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficalerts/default.aspx

·         WSDOT Travel Alerts web page http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/hoodcanal/default.aspx?cam=3084

·         Email updates https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADOT/subscriber/new

·         Mobile app http://www.wsdot.com/Inform/mobile.htm

There also is a traffic map on the Kitsap Sun Web page, which depicts slowdowns, though I can’t say how accurate it is. It’s provided by the paper’s corporate parent and the local staff doesn’t know a lot about it. It has no camera images.

 

I-5 traffic camera could be more helpful

The in basket: I find radio and TV traffic reports to be more befuddling than helpful, mostly because I rarely know enough about where they’re talking about.

When I tried extra hard recently to divine the meaning of a couple of TV traffic reports about something going on along I-5, they were showing emergency lights (on one occasion) and snow (on the other) “on I-5 at the Pierce County line.” The image was from a state Department of Transportation camera, and the legend didn’t say whether it was Pierce County’s border with King or Thurston county. I recognized the landscape as being at the King County line one time, but the other was at night and I couldn’t tell where it was.

I asked if there is a technical reason they didn’t make clear which Pierce County line they mean.

The out basket: No technical reason, says Claudia Bingham Baker of the Olympic Region of state highways. It’s just that there is no freeway traffic camera at the Thurston County line, only the one just past Fife at the King County line.

“The closest camera to the south of that (Thurston) line is labeled Nisqually, and to north it’s labeled Mounts Road,” she said.

“We will be installing more cameras this summer and next, so we may need to look at more clearly delineating county lines at that point,” she added.

Gorst has only traffic camera between Purdy and Poulsbo

The in basket: Glenn Shock of Lakeland Village in Allyn asks in an e-mail, “Are there any (state) road cameras in Kitsap County? We live at the highest point in Lakeland Village and get more snow, more often than most other areas.

“We have commitments in Bremerton and Silverdale and always wonder what the road conditions are between here and there.

“Are there cameras on highways 16 and 3 in Kitsap County?”

The out basket: Just one that will be of help checking on the route to Bremerton and Silverdale. It’s in Gorst at Sam Christopherson Road and Highway 3. It was installed during replacement of the east half of the Hood Canal Bridge when traffic was detoured through Gorst up the west side of Hood Canal.

Several others are on Highway 16 from Purdy south, installed during construction of the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge in connection with ramp metering stop lights and on Highway 3 north of Poulsbo, installed to help drivers anticipate closures of the Hood Canal Bridge to vehicle traffic.

Kelly Stowe of the state Department f Transportation says those from Purdy south are viewable at www.wsdot.com/traffic/tacoma/default.aspx. Those from Poulsbo north and the one in Gorst can be seen at www.wsdot.com/traffic/hoodcanal/default.aspx?cam=9191. It has one  between Brinnon and Quilcene on the west side of the canal, too.