More than $100 million worth of possible transportation improvements including a Belfair bypass, improvements to State Route 305 and SR 16 were discussed at a recent Kitsap Business Forum meeting.
John Powers, executive director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, said the highway and infrastructure package was being considered by the state legislature now.
The $100 million worth of projects in the Senate Transportation Package as of March 4 was part of a larger, $470 million, 30-point wish list of transportation improvements that the West Sound Alliance felt could improve traffic flow.
WSA is a partnership among 19 jurisdictions and economic development organizations in Mason, Pierce and Kitsap counties that supports transportation improvements in the west sound region.
Powers said transportation investments were needed to support the area’s shipbuilding, technology and other industries and make sure the region remains economically vibrant. Improved traffic flow was the key to that aim.
Over 60,000 people commuted to and from the west sound on a daily basis, Powers said, many of which work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which employs one third of the maritime workers in the state.
About 40,000 of the commuters are commuting away from Kitsap County and the other 20,000 commute into the county.
“It’s not a bad thing when you have people living here who move outside of this market for employment as well. And a lot of those folks bring home some very nice paychecks from the I-5 corridor that are spent in your communities and with your businesses,” Powers said.
Improving traffic flow through Gorst came up several times as an area that needed improvement.
During the question and answer period, one person suggested shifting air freight traffic away from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Bremerton National Airport. Such a move might both reduce bottlenecks at Sea-Tac while simultaneously boosting business in Kitsap County.
Powers said commercial passenger traffic was not viable since the 6,000-foot-long Bremerton airport was too short to handle commercial airliners. Expanding the length of the runway would be difficult due to wetlands in the area. He said he would contact port leaders about the air freight idea, however.
Powers said the airport could be used more for private aviation and military aviation purposes.
The few people polled at the meeting stated their support for raising gasoline taxes to pay for the infrastructure improvements and maintenance. No one voiced opposition to increasing gasoline taxes.
Don Moody with the real estate group CBRE said he was “thumbs up” on the gas tax and highway improvements.
“But one of the most important things and the one that would come easiest to Kitsap County is if somehow we could advance rail into the area beyond what it is today. Because working all over the region there is one type of land that is in high demand and that’s rail-served land,” Moody said.
Garet Gartin also agreed on raising the gasoline tax and said he favored a lifestyle that wasn’t so automobile-centric.
“Part of it, for me, is getting people off the roads in the first place and getting a little more dense areas in Kitsap County where people can live and work without having to commute at all. That would be my vision for the future,” Gartin said.
