This past week I had way too close of a call on 11th Street.

I was on my way to pick up Nick at the Naval Avenue Boys and Girls Club, but as I approached Olympic Avenue, a vehicle traveling ahead of me in the next lane slowed to make a left hand turn. I slowed, watching for cars to dart out from behind him, so they would not have to stop, which happens often.

Unbeknownst to me, a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction was also slowing to make a left hand turn since the one lane in my direction was stopped. I could not see her because of the slowed traffic. She could not see me and turned right in front of me.

I locked it up, kept the wheel straight and slid right past her rear bumper missing it with my front bumper by mere inches. Thank goodness nobody was right behind me.

My open question to the City of Bremerton is, why are left hand turns still being allowed on 11th where there are no turn lanes? There is way too much traffic on this road, especially during commute times, to continue to allow left hand turns directly from lanes of travel.

As a resident of a nearby parallel street, I have heard many crashes that have occurred between Naval and High avenues over the past 12 years. Many residents in our Union Hill area discuss the danger of coming and going from our own neighborhood because of the ever-increasing volume of traffic.

Eliminating left hand turns except where there are designated turn lanes would also fix a rather new problem that has cropped up over the past five years: A constant stream of traffic cutting through the Roosevelt Avenue and 10th Street area to avoid the light at Naval and 11th.

The individuals who choose to exhibit this behavior feel that speeding through this area and making it more difficult for actual residents to navigate their own driveways and parking areas is an acceptable option and worth gaining the extra 30 to 60 seconds it would take to wait for the light.

They avoid using the designated turn lane whether it is the left onto Naval from 11th or the right turn from Naval onto 11th in the lane marked with what has to be the most ignored sign in the city, “No turn on red.”

A significant amount of children who walk to and from the Naval Avenue Early Learning Center and the Boys and Girls Club use the side streets to avoid the heaviest of the traffic.

Unfortunately because of the currently allowed left turns anywhere off of 11th, the traffic is not avoiding them.

I know that the Bremerton School District, the Naval Avenue PTA and the City of Bremerton have worked together in the past couple of years to discuss traffic flow and pedestrian issues in the area surrounding the school.

This has resulted in several years of talking and planning and very little in the way of action. So far the most significant visible improvement that has come from all of this was the repainting of the crosswalks in the immediate area of the school. That’s it.

The time has come for some changes and corrections when it comes to traffic in heavily traveled areas.

I am counting on Bremerton city leaders and administrators to find and implement some corrective measures very soon.