Last January, Jim Turner of Suquamish wrote a letter to this paper in which he likened driving the “improved” Bond/Gunderson intersection to playing a game of Russian Roulette. Turner’s 2004 letter noted that the Washington State Department of Transportation should have delayed its project to add turn lanes and widen the roadway. It also referred to a three-car collision that had occurred Dec. 14, 2003 in which three people were injured and airlifted. WSDOT should not have proceeded with such work until it had all the funding for the project — including the addition of a much-needed traffic signal there, he added.

The letter proved to be horrificly prophetic.

Exactly one year later, Dec. 14, 2004, Turner’s wife was killed at the very intersection he had written about.

Meanwhile, it seems that WSDOT is sticking to its now smoking guns, claiming that 2006 is the earliest a traffic light can be added. While this may be the case, we sincerely hope that it is sooner and that our county and state representatives expedite the safety measure.

Lives are quite literally at stake.

At the bare minimum, WSDOT should commit to adding signage on all roadways approaching the intersection that it is “high risk” and that motorists should exercise extreme caution.

The intersection is unsafe and should be treated as such. It is the state’s job to fix the problem it has created as soon as possible but it is unquestionably drivers who must respond to the challenges of our transportation system. They are the ones who decide where their vehicles go, when and how fast. On today’s roads, we must all be on the defensive.

Drivers are indeed playing Russian Roulette at Bond and Gunderson and while WSDOT is holding the gun, motorists are ultimately the ones with their fingers on the trigger.