Letters to the editor
Published 1:30 am Friday, February 27, 2026
Roundabout conflict
To the editor:
I heard that DOT wants to spend a budget surplus from this year to justify another surplus for next year.
Currently, the High School Road roundabout is budgeted for $4 million.
However, it is the citizens: our family, friends, doctors, nurses, contractors and employees from off-island who spend precious time dragging down Highway 305. Would they vote for an alternating 3D lane built from the bridge to the Day Road intersection, or even to Sportsman Club Road, in order to siphon off the traffic load?
What would be the DOT standard cost estimate for an alternating 3d lane? Would the City Council support?
Secondly, DOT has ignored the traffic jam when the waiting ferry traffic extends into the High School Rd. intersection.
These events are often predictable — like Mother’s Day. I have seen the very next driver to come north discover there is no waiting room for another car south. That driver had no training or experience for such situation, so he turned left across two lanes, blocking them, and stopped right there, befuddled. (And blocking any then-existing roundabout.)
The state could do something useful, like build more parking for the ferry traffic. Would the City Council support?
Bill Woods
Bainbridge Island
Roundabout questions
To the editor:
There are numerous roundabouts in the West Sound that are well designed. For the volume of traffic that flows through Highway 305 and High School Road, the proposed design does not seem appropriate. I believe that Gorst, as it becomes Highway 16, must be the most dangerous road in Kitsap County, not 305 and High School Rd. I still have questions and observations about this project:
1. What specific pedestrian safety tools will be implemented? The Johnson Way Roundabout (Poulsbo) has an underground tunnel for pedestrians to use.
2. What design features will allow vehicles to safely turn onto or off of 305 from High School Rd?
3. I have asked WSDOT to provide the following arrival and departure statistics for the ferries: How many vehicles on each arriving ferry (and the specific date and boat times [a.m. or p.m.] from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025, and how many vehicles on each departing ferry, and the specific date and boat times [a.m. or p.m.] from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025?) If WSDOT can provide the information requested above, we will be able to determine upcoming challenges with the design and traffic volume.
I believe this project merits a larger meeting at a more convenient date and time in the high school gymnasium, where we can hear a presentation and ask more questions of WSDOT. WSDOT staff estimated 200 people attended the Feb. 11 open house. That’s less than 1% of an island population estimated at 25,000. Holding a public meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. is not convenient for off-island commuters.
People support things they help to create. Be open to the ideas that people in the community propose. Commuters and islanders seek collaboration with WSDOT.
Linda Gordon
Bainbridge Island
Roundabout bad idea
To the editor:
WSDOT seems to blame the signalized intersection on High School Road and Highway 305 for some 40 accidents between 2015 and 2024. Aren’t careless drivers responsible for accidents? And, considering that millions of cars have crossed this intersection during those nine years, do 40 accidents really constitute “a history of fatal and serious injury collisions” (WSDOT)? Roundabouts come with their own problems.
I am a survivor of travelling major roundabouts in Europe and Mexico City. When entering a roundabout, I always feel like surrendering my fate to the other drivers who merge into the circular traffic, may change lanes, or suddenly slow down to prevent a collision. Every driver must yield to other drivers, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians. Thus, navigating high-volume roundabouts can be a nerve-racking experience. I would much rather let a traffic light tell me when to stop, when to go.
The proposed two-lane roundabout is confusing and dangerous because drivers must make lane decisions and are forced to merge from the outer into the inner lane when exiting into the one lane 305 going north or south, as the Johnson Parkway/305 roundabout requires. And, during commuter hours, with bumper-to-bumper traffic on 305, cars on High School Road will have a difficult time crossing.
Traditionally, roundabouts are built to handle balanced traffic, “not when you have a dominant leg,” as a member of the community stated.
The Poulsbo roundabout cost $20 million. Can WSDOT build the Bainbridge roundabout for $4 million?
James Behrend
Bainbridge Island
