Contractors are putting the final touches on two new bridges in
Kitsap County, both of which are expected to improve the local
environment.
A new bridge over the Carpenter
Creek Estuary near Kingston helps to restore the upper salt
marsh.
Photo; Stillwaters Environmental Center
One is a 150-foot bridge that crosses the Carpenter Creek
Estuary on West Kingston Road near Kingston. The other is a 50-foot
bridge that crosses Big Anderson Creek on Seabeck-Holly Road near
Holly.
Among local residents, the Carpenter Creek bridge may best be
known as the bridge that blocked traffic and forced a detour near
Kingston for more than a year — much longer than originally
planned. (Recall reporter Nathan Pilling’s story in the
Kitsap Sun.) While contract issues remain in dispute, the
environmental benefits are clear, according to Joleen Palmer of the
nearby Stillwaters Environmental Center.
Let’s talk about Anderson Creek in Kitsap County. Where exactly
is that stream?
If you were to say that Anderson Creek is a stream that spills
into Hood Canal near Holly, you would be right.
Artist rendering of future
bridge on Seabeck-Holly Road. // Photo: Kitsap
County
If you are thinking of another Hood Canal stream — the one that
you cross north of Seabeck while traveling on Anderson Hill Road —
that would be right, too.
And nobody could complain if you believe that Anderson Creek is
the name of the stream that flows into Sinclair Inlet near
Gorst.
Officially, they are all Anderson Creek, according to the
Geographic Names Information
System, the official database of true names. GNIS is maintained
by the U.S. Geological Survey.
I discovered the existence of three Anderson Creeks in Kitsap
County as I sat down to blog about a new bridge project being
planned on Seabeck-Holly Road north of Holly — over a stream I have
always called Big Anderson Creek.
These are the opening lines of the county’s announcement about
the bridge work: “Kitsap County Public Works begins construction of
a new bridge on Seabeck-Holly Road at the Anderson Creek crossing
beginning July 18, 2017.”
I immediately thought that someone in Public Works must have
accidentally shortened the name from Big Anderson Creek to Anderson
Creek, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, doesn’t everyone call it
Big Anderson Creek?
I conducted an online search for “Big Anderson Creek” in Kitsap.
Many reliable sources have been calling it Big Anderson Creek in
dozens of documents for at least several decades. To name a few of
the agencies using the “wrong” name:
Hood Canal Coordinating Council in its “Summer Chum Salmon
Recovery Plan,”
Kitsap Public Health District in its annual “Water Quality
Monitoring Report,”
Kitsap Public Utility District in its water supply
assessment,
Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management in its
multi-hazard-mitigation plan,
Washington Department of Ecology in its inventory of
stream-monitoring programs,
Point No Point Treaty Council in its nearshore habitat
assessment for Hood Canal,
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group in its annual report of
restoration projects,
The Trust for Public Land in its “Assessment for Freshwater
Habitat for Puget Sound Salmon,”
And, last but not least, Big Anderson Creek is the name used by
Kitsap County Public Works in its stream-monitoring
program.
Little Anderson Creek, the one farther north, is in the same
boat as Big Anderson Creek. A lot of people use the descriptive
“Big” and “Little” when talking about the two streams, but
officially they are wrong, according to my assessment.
Ed Smith, Public Works project manager for the bridge
construction, told me that he will keep calling it “Anderson
Creek.” That’s the official name on the maps that he uses. It is
also the name listed on the “hydraulic project approval” issued by
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to authorize
construction.
Through the years, I’ve written quite a lot about confusing and
conflicting names, but I never had a clue about the discrepancy
involving Big and Little Anderson creeks. If someone reading this
has the time and dedication to officially change the names of these
two streams, I don’t think anyone would object. The process begins
with an application to the
Washington State Committee on Geographic Names. The committee’s
coordinator, Caleb Maki, can help people work their way through the
process. Please let me know if you tackle this project.
Meanwhile, I will continue using the popular nomenclature of Big
and Little Anderson creeks.
As for the new bridge over Big Anderson Creek, a 50-foot
concrete structure will replace the aging 29-foot timber bridge
built in 1950. The opening for the stream will increase from about
28 feet to about 45 feet, Smith said. That will give the stream
slightly more room to shift around during heavy flows.
Work will begin July 18 and wrap up around December, according
to the schedule. Seabeck-Holly Road, the main route to and from
Holly, will be reduced to one lane during the construction.
The $1.67-million construction project will be carried out by
Pacific Pile and Marine of Seattle. An artist’s rendering of the
completed structure and other information can be seen on the Kitsap
County website titled “Seabeck-Holly
Road Bridge #20 at Anderson Creek.”
