On the heels of a notice sent out to the Hansville community, approximately 100 neighbors turned out May 15 at the Hansville Community Center to question and comment on recommendations by the Greater Hansville Area Advisory Council’s Road Safety Committee regarding speed tables and a proposed mini-round.
Kitsap County officials attending were introduced by Judy Foritano, chairman of the GHAAC, and included Commissioner Chris Endresen, Sheriff Steve Boyer, and Deputy Chief Dan Smith from North Kitsap Fire and Rescue. County staff members in attendance included Kathy Brown (Commissioner Endresen’s office), Jon Brand and Jeff Shea (traffic engineers from Public Works), Chief Gary Simpson, Sgt. Mike Merrill, and Traffic Safety Task Force Coordinator Carolyn Pence (Sheriff’s department).
Commissioner Endresen praised the Hansville community for its proactive work on the issue of traffic safety, saying that of the county’s money, 64 percent is already allocated to the departments of law and justice, so anything a community can do to help itself that does not include additional county manpower, is beneficial.
Kathy Bourassa, co-chair of the Road Safety Committee, reviewed the committee’s focus and goals over the past year including the protection and preservation of the rural character of roads, and the safety of children, pets and wildlife, all while keeping in mind Sheriff Boyer’s words to the community that only a three-pronged approach of enforcement, education and engineering would slow people down.
Deputy Fire Chief Dan Smith commented that the Foulweather Bluff fire station is now staffed “24/7,” and even though each speed table would slow the fire department by eight seconds, given the locations of the tables, first responders would not be significantly slowed to most areas of the GHA. He also commended the community for creatively looking for solutions to keep neighbors from becoming statistics. He said that sometimes statistics are, sadly, “behind the curve,” and it is only when communities can “step outside the box” to create a solution to a problem are they way ahead.
Following the meeting, the committee met to review input from the community. It was decided to revise the proposal to include removal of the traffic circle at the entrance to downtown Hansville, substituting it instead with a speed table more north of the intersection. In addition, a second speed table was proposed for the neighborhood of Bridgeview Drive.
Hansville neighbors are encouraged to bring road safety issues to the committee. The next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 5 in the Driftwood Key Clubhouse.
