Road Warrior

Update as of Aug. 22, 2011. I found the light at Lower Wheaton and Lebo/Cherry working fine when I went through it. Gunnar Fridriksson of the city’s engineers says the dry weather may have temporarily corrected the detection problem there, but he would expect it to return with the fall rains.  — Road Warrior.

The in basket: Jim Lawson of Manette thinks the traffic signal on Lower Wheaton Way (often called “Old Wheaton Way) where Lebo Boulevard and Cherry Avenue intersect it has gotten worse not better since closure of the Manette Bridge has increased traffic there.

That intersection lies on the main detour route for former Manette Bridge traffic wanting to reach West Bremerton. It’s always been a key route for Manette residents heading for northbound Highway 303, known as Wheaton Way.

Jim says “Six weeks or longer ago the city of Bremerton changed the sequence so Wheaton Way stays green most of the time. Now at any time of day with no other cars at the intersection, to turn left from Cherry to Wheaton, you sit and sit and sit and sit and sit.“

He also is hopeful the city might take a page from Kitsap County’s book and deploy one of the flashing yellow left-turn lights to allow traffic heading uphill on Old Wheaton to turn left and reach southbound Highway 303 via the Lebo access, rather than waiting for the red left turn light to change.

Jim also described a circuitous route he takes to hasten his trip back to his home from north of Sheridan Road. It takes him down Cherry past Harrison Medical Center to the light on Old Wheaton, where he once again is delayed longer than he’d like before getting to turn left.

The out basket: Those who share Jim’s frustration won’t see the problem rectified soon.

Gunnar Fridriksson, interim managing engineer for Bremerton’s public works department, says, “Timing to the light has not been changed.  The northbound traffic detector loop has failed, which means the signal has defaulted to continually ‘detecting’ northbound traffic” whether there is any or not.

The city knew the loop was fragile when the detour route for the bridge closure was selected a year ago, but hoped it would last until an upgrade of Lower Wheaton Way, for which they have money in 2012. But it failed this year.

Because the problem actually serves the detour by giving uphill traffic more time than it otherwise would to reach the Callahan Avenue interchange with Highway 303, they have opted not to make the repair, which would be costly due to the age of the controller equipment, the condition of the pavement and plans for work there next year, he said.

But it comes at a cost of longer waits on the side streets. At present, when a vehicle approaches on either Lebo or Cherry, the working detector loops on that street sense it, but that just starts the preset countdown before they get a green light, rather than an immediate signal change. That accounts for what Jim sees during his route home via Cherry.

There’s an alternate route to the southbound on-ramp to the bridge reached by turned left onto Lebo, a movement also delayed by the broken loop. But the difference in distance is miniscule. The city and state chose in setting up the detour route last year to send all detoured traffic looking to go to West Bremerton north to Callahan rather than indicating that a left turn on Lebo is an option. “That simplifies directions to the motoring public unfamiliar with the area,” he said.

I didn’t expect the city to introduce a yellow flashing left turn light at Old Wheaton/Lebo/Cherry, as it hasn’t chosen to spend the money on that new technology anywhere else up to now. That is the answer I got.

“No funding is identified to upgrade signal systems,” Gunnar said. “As this is an older system and controller, upgrading would be a significant cost.”

The in basket: Katie Holden, a Navy wife and recent arrival here from San Diego, writes, “Another accident on Wheaton Way. When I first moved here, it struck me while driving on Wheaton Way that it feels like a ‘free for all.’ There are so many points of exit and entry while the center lane is for both directions.

“Shortly after that, I read in the paper that a baby had lost his life when the parents were involved in a traffic accident on Wheaton Way. This morning I read about another accident.

“Isn’t there a better way to deal with the amount of traffic on this road? Maybe there should be turn lanes dedicated to a certain direction rather than both directions.

“I would rather drive on San Diego’s deadly I-5 in rush hour traffic than on Wheaton Way during rush hour. Does this road seem dangerous to you?”

The out basket: As far back as I can recall in my 40-plus years as a reporter in Bremerton, Wheaton Way has been held out as a bad example of handling heavy traffic.

“You don’t want to make this another Wheaton Way” would be a frequent cry at meetings to discuss some planned development somewhere else.

At one time, it was proposed to pair it with a parallel street, probably a widened Pine Road, with a new bridge across the Port Washington Narrows, providing one-way travel in each direction. It would tie into High Avenue on the west side, its proponents said.

The idea died without making much progress, opposed by Pine Road and High Avenue residents and hobbled by lack of money.

Still, I don’t avoid Wheaton unless I think I’ll move faster on a side road. About the only time I feel in danger  there is when I’m northbound in the outside lane. The lack of deceleration lanes for right turns creates a risk of rear-enders, especially between Sylvan and Riddell.

Given the amount of traffic the highway must handle, I think the state and city do a pretty good job keeping it moving, albeit at the expense of those waiting on the side streets.

I don’t know what would be gained by eliminating the two-way turn lanes in favor of one-way turns. Who knows what confusion and risk would accompany requiring one direction of travel to find some way to get turned around to make a right where lefts no longer would be allowed.

And I’d hate to turn left onto Wheaton anywhere there’s no traffic light without the two-way turn lane to use as a refuge lane to wait in half-way across.

I just drove LA’s I-405 and I-110, right through the heart of downtown, and would consider either worse than Wheaton Way, attributable mostly to LA’s greater congestion.

And I’d rather drive any of them than 45th Street in Seattle’s U District.

The in basket: Pat Ryan of Brownsville has contacted me twice, years apart, suggesting that more directional signs around the northbound on-ramp to Highway 303 from Callahan Drive in East Bremerton are needed.

At present, only drivers westbound on Callahan have signs showing the way to the highway. Drivers who come north on Clare Avenue, which arcs around as a one-way street in its final couple hundred feet, can see the ramp, and maybe the highway, but are left to put two and two together without benefit of a sign saying, yes, a left turn will get you onto 303.

This year, Pat added that a sign down the hill at Lebo Boulevard and Clare, directing drivers seeking northbound Highway 303 up the hill would also be helpful.

There also is doubt about whether a left turn from Callahan onto the ramp is legal. A sign says no U-turn, but is mum on left turns.

Richard Gonzales e-mailed to say he knows a person who was stopped and warned by a Bremerton officer for making the left turn.

“The is no signage prohibiting the turn,” he noted. “Since my coworker wasn’t cited, can I assume that this officer just felt it was unsafe to turn left there or is it truly illegal?”

The out basket: It’s a legal place to make a left turn, says, Lt. Pete Fisher, head of BPD’s traffic division. He speculated that there may have been something dangerous about how Richard’s co-worker made the turn, perhaps not yielding to a car on Callahan, that prompted the warning.

Larry Matel of the city engineers says this about the signs Pat proposes:

“While often times we all might like another roadway sign here or there, signs are deployed based upon a number of factors including traffic volume, complexity of traffic movements, traffic speed, and consequences of missing a turn, as well as economics.

“That said, the city of Bremerton has thousands of street signs that all need to be maintained, regardless of the state of the economy. Therefore, we always look carefully at all requests for additional signing placement because the initial cost of the sign is only a portion of the cost of maintaining the sign over the life of the roadway. The costs do add up.

“In this specific case, I do not see overwhelming life/safety or convenience issues creating a strong need to add additional maintenance responsibilities to our operations, especially in times of very tight budgets.”

I drove around the area, imagining that I was a stranger to the city coming from the direction of Lion’s Field, and I think a greater need for sign installation or maintenance exists on old Wheaton Way, which gets a lot more traffic.

There are no signs at Lebo and old Wheaton Way showing the way to 303, and a sign up the hill on old Wheaton that is intended to is almost entirely hidden by trees. Even then, it describes it as the way to “Warren Avenue/Wheaton Way,” which a newcomer probably wouldn’t know is also Highway 303.

Wheaton Way Tuesday morning

The in basket: Mike Brown, who had to travel back and forth between East and West Bremerton Tuesday in his job as development project manager with Bremerton Housing Authority, spent a lot  of time in the traffic jams around the prolonged, complete closure of Bremerton’s busiest street, Wheaton Way, while power crews worked to clear a huge tree and other debris from the street.

The closure went on for hours, from about 12:15 a.m. to just after 7 p.m., around 19 hours.

The detours were congested, and drivers trying to get through, including Mike, tried side streets that didn’t work and l had to wait to get back onto the designated detour among drivers who weren’t very cooperative about letting them in, he said.

The mess could have benefited from some police officers on foot in the worst intersections, he said, especially Halvorsen Avenue and Sylvan Way, so cars didn’t have to wait for passing traffic on Sylvan to pull out. As it was, traffic on Halvorsen backed up for blocks.

The out basket: This was an extraordinary event about which not much has been printed or aired. Davina Gruenstein, of Puget Sound Energy says the company thinks it actually may have been caused by a tornado, a view shared by an occupant of a nearby business building at the time. Some people are describing the scene near Flowers to Go and Cooper’s Fuel and Auto Repair as like a war zone, she said.

A huge tree fell across Wheaton, she said, dropping wires on both sides of the four-lane street and snapping off two power poles. Broken limbs littered the pavement.

Just removing the tree took a long time, she said. The poles had to be replaced. cross-arms attached and a thousand feet of wire restrung.

Lt. Pete Fisher of Bremerton police tells me they don’t have the manpower to assign officers to direct traffic, even in such an emergency. They had no reserve officers on duty.

They wouldn’t have been able to respond promptly to accidents and other wind-related problems had they added traffic control to their duties, he said.

The Road Warrior came upon the blocked street about noon and I phoned CenCom to suggest the traffic signals be retimed to handle the detoured traffic. They appeared to be set for normal traffic.

Lt. Fisher said he did the same between 1 and 2 p.m.

Jeff Collins, head of city signal shop said they did that at Sylvan Way early in the day, but the press of wind-related problems kept him from giving Sheridan Road more time to turn left onto Wheaton until about 3 p.m.

Pete added that they got the state to delay that night’s scheduled closure of Manette Bridge because of the Wheaton Way crisis.

Mike Brown said he eventually was able to devise his own way around the backups. It helped to know your way around. I got caught in the Halvorsen backup around 2:30 but turned right onto 31st and found Olympus Drive one block up the hill to be mostly clear. Mike said he found the same thing.

Dennis D’Amico at the National Weather Service said they have no reason to believe it was a tornado. But the kind of thunderstorm squalls that moved through the area about when the tree fell can do that kind of damage, he said.

Jason Hood, a manager at Cooper’s, isn’t convinced. He was doing late-night paperwork when the wind hit and said it was”fairly instantaneous and slammed against our building,” lasted 15 or 20 seconds and made him worry that it might peel the walls right off, he said. As it was, the roof of another part was torn off, he said.

“It was extremely scary. I tried to crawl under my desk because I didn’t know what would happen,” he said. “I’m convinced that it was a tornado.”

The wailing of their security system when the power failed and blue sparks from power transformers blowing out as the tree crashed across the highway added to the chaos, he said.

The in basket: Mike McDermott of Poulsbo wrote in late July saying, “Driving north on Silverdale Way, coming down the hill towards the intersection where it turns into Viking Way (at Luoto Road), the shoulder (bike lane) curves to the right to make way for a right-turn lane near the gas station.

“A cyclist was in the bike lane, and if he wants to continue straight through the intersection he has to cross the solid shoulder line to enter the lane going straight, while I, in a car wanting to turn right at the intersection, simply follow the road as it curves to the right, without crossing any lines to be in the right-turn lane.

“The cyclist was just in front of me in the bike lane, and I saw the potential for an accident should he want to continue going straight, so I stayed behind him until I knew what he was going to do. Sure enough, without any indication he was changing lanes, he crossed the solid shoulder line to continue straight. Had I not considered the potential for an accident, we would have collided.

“Who would have been at fault and why?” Mike asked. “He crossed a solid line, while I crossed none.”

The out basket: It’s a helpful question, as a new kind of bike lane alignment has shown up here, on Viking Way at Finn Hill Road in Poulsbo and on Sheridan Road at Wheaton Way in Bremerton. There may be other places I haven’t noticed.

In those two places, a passage marked by a dotted line provides a path for bicyclists on the shoulder to reach a narrow lane between the through lane and the right turn lane.

But that’s not the alignment where Mike had his experience, and the answer to his question is pretty straight forward.

Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesman for Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, says, “The motor vehicle has the right of way in this scenario. The bicyclist would have to yield to all other traffic, traveling in same direction/lane of travel, prior to entering the roadway to cross the intersection.

“It’s the same as if a car was stopped on the shoulder and the driver wanted to re-enter back onto the roadway,” Scott said. “The driver has to wait until traffic is clear and it’s safe to enter back onto the roadway before proceeding.

“If there had been a collision between Mr. McDermott and the bicyclist, the bicyclist would have been found at fault for causing the collision,” said Scott.

But what about those two spots and any others where a dotted lines indicates a path for bicyclists to get from the shoulder to inside the right turn lane.

The answer is different there.

Sgt. Andy Pate of Poulsbo Police says, “The bike lane you are referring (to) is a designated bike lane by the city. Due to the right-turn-only lane on northbound Viking, the city positioned the bicycle lane across the right-turn-only lane for through bicycle traffic.

“This ‘crossing’ of the bicycle lane is treated similar to a crosswalk or a lane change. Motorists must yield to bicyclist that has entered their lane of travel using the bicycle lane to cross, just as they would a pedestrian or bicycle crossing at a crosswalk.

“However, there is a ‘due care and caution’ (duty) that must be exercised by the operator of the bicycle. They are not allowed to enter/cross the right-turn-only lane of travel suddenly or in such a way that an overtaking vehicle could not safely slow or stop for them to cross.

“The bicycle lane does not give either motorist or bicyclist exclusive right of way, both must yield to the lead vehicle to end in an orderly flow of traffic,” Andy said.

Lt. Pete Fisher, head of Bremerton police traffic division, says the rules are the same at the Sheridan-Wheaton alignment.

The in basket: I was intrigued by an odd paving project done on Wheaton Way north of Sheridan Road the week of June 14. It was a continuous narrow strip of new asphalt after the old was dug out, running north from in front of Albertson’s in the northbound outer lane.

The state’s project information list said it would run all the way to the city limits at Riddell Road and all the way back to Sheridan. I wondered what on earth required it. It looked like perhaps some past utility trench wasn’t repaired correctly.

The out basket: The project list description was misleading, as the dig-outs and pavement replacement took on the more familiar intermittent pattern after it got north of Sylvan Way. Only a few places were patched in the southbound direction, once again near the curb.

Duke Stryker, head of maintenance operations for state highways in Kitsap and Mason counties, said the street, which to the state is Highway 303, was identified as a trouble spot in their annual spring review in which a state materials engineer drives state highways with local maintenance crews to plan the year’s pavement repair.

Duke said the outer wheel rut carved by millions of cars over the years, worsened by water accumulating against the curb, caused the deterioration. The three wheel ruts farther from the curb didn’t have the excess water to worsen the wear. The outer rut pavement was badly “alligatored” and needed replacement, he said. .

It took them a week. This week (June 21) the crews are doing similar work on Highway 3 in Gorst. Tuesday and Wednesday, they’ll be closing the Purdy Bridge at the east end of Highway 302 to repave it. The Gorst and Purdy work will be done at night. Purdy traffic will be detoured via Pine Road and other local streets during the closures.

The in basket: Gary Reed asked on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com what the plans are for repairing the washout on old Wheaton Way near East 18th Street in Bremerton, one victim of the infamous December 2007 deluge. Since then concrete barrier has sealed off the steep embankment at that site and traffic lanes have been narrowed and moved away from it. 

While I was inquiring, I asked about yet another washout from that storm, which has reduced Sand Hill Road in North Mason County to a single lane past the same kind of concrete barriers. 

The out basket: Larry Matel of the city of Bremerton street engineers and Mason County engineer Bob Thuring say both their jurisdictions are awaiting bureaucratic approval to get the repair done this year. 

Larry says the plans for their repair were submitted to the state Department of Transportation this spring, and “final construction will be determined based upon the time frame of the state to review plans and approve construction funding.  We are hopeful for construction this summer season.”

Bob’s reply nearly echoed Larry’s. “We have a complete design and have acquired the easements from (the state Department of Natural Resources) for construction.  We are currently working on getting approval of our right of way plan through the state department of transportation.  At that point WSDOT will release the construction funding and we can advertise the project.  I really hate to speculate on how long that process will take but we plan to build the project this summer/fall.

The state must approve the work because it administers federal “pass-through” money such as will pay for most of the work.

The in basket: I was reviewing old Road Warrior columns and came across one from last year that suggested another roundabout might be on the drawing boards, where Lake Flora and JM Dickenson roads intersect in South Kitsap.

Debbie Buchholz had asked about the Lake Flora work that was done last July, and the county said phase 2 of the work might include a roundabout.

The out basket: There will, indeed, be a roundabout built at the Lake Flora/JM Dickenson road intersection, beginning this fall or next spring. 

Dick Dadisman of Kitsap County Public Works says the new rural roundabout “will have a single lane similar to the roundabout on Bethel Road in Port Orchard.  (Though, the Port Orchard roundabout was designed and constructed as a two-lane roundabout, but striped for a single lane).  

“Major differences between a rural roundabout and urban roundabout ,” he said, “are rural roundabouts lack the pedestrian improvements you would typically find in an urban setting; the truck apron is wider to allow larger trucks to negotiate the roundabout; and the approach legs are typically longer to allow sufficient distance for higher speed vehicles to safely decelerate as they approach the roundabout.” 

The roundabout will be just south of the intersection it will replace.

I asked if there are any other roundabouts planned on the county’s roads and Dick said, “Kitsap County has one other roundabout under consideration.  This one is located at the Newberry Hill/Silverdale Way/Chico Way intersection with construction planned for the summer of 2012.” 

Since he replied, County Commissioner Josh Brown made a pitch for a roundabout at Holly Road and Seabeck Highway in Central Kitsap, so that may be added to the list in the future.

The in basket: Julia LaFontaine of Tracyton says there was a 35 mph speed limit sign on southbound Wheaton Way as one approaches the Warren Avenue Bridge, a bit past the intersection with Sheridan, before the city of Bremerton built its off-ramp there a couple of years ago. 

“I’m guessing it was in the way of construction of the new off-ramp to the Sheridan Park area,” she said, ” but . . . where is it now?  There’s no sign now from the intersection to the other 35 mph sign just where the bridge deck begins (after the on-ramp there). 

“I use that route (along Tracyton Beach Road and up Sheridan) three to five times a week,” she said. “I’m a rules follower, and whatever the speed limit is, that’s what I go on surface streets. I do sometimes get up to 65 on the freeway, but on surface streets and rural roads there are always joggers, people crossing to a mailbox, animals, hidden driveways, all kinds of unexpected things possibly just around a curve.  

“When turning onto the bridge I’ve been using the 30 mph of Wheaton as my guide, until I get to the further sign, but people are always on my tail or rushing past in the left lane. 

“Will they ever replace that sign?” she asked. “ Or is 30 intended to be the correct speed until you reach that second sign? There was a long stretch at 35 before reaching the second sign.” 

The out basket: Brenden Clarke, head of the state’s local project office, says Julie is mistaken, that there was no 35 mph sign where the city built its off-ramp to Callahan Drive and Lebo Boulevard. He included a photo of the spot taken prior to the construction, he said, viewed from the north, and no sign is visible.

I don’t have any contrary recollection of the speed limit history there. 

“The correct speed limit at this location is indeed 30 mph,” Brenden said. ”It’s 30 mph until you reach the 35 mph speed limit sign at the bridge.”

I’m not surprised that Julia feels pressure to speed up from drivers behind her.  Most drivers don’t adhere to the speed limit like she does, especially on straight stretches like that approaching the bridge. But they can always pass her if they want to go faster.