New Volunteer Group Will Give Transportation Advice

A new Kitsap County transportation advisory committee will meet for the first time Tuesday night. 

The 17-person volunteer group was formed to advise the county on policies and procedures pertaining to long-range transportation planning and program management. 

"We figured we'd put together a group that could focus on policy and make sure the county is going in the direction everybody feels we should be going," said county transportation planner Jim Rogers, who leads the group. 

The county's comprehensive plan recognizes the need to involve the public in transportation planning, and the advisory committee is a good way to do that, Rogers said. 

A resolution, passed by the county commissioners on Jan. 14, created a committee that would include:

— One member each from the cities of Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Port Orchard and Poulsbo

— One member each from the Port Gamble S'Klallam and Suquamish tribes

— Three members from each Kitsap County commissioner district

— One member from Kitsap Transit

— One member from the state Department of Transportation

Representatives from the county's public works, community development and parks departments will also participate. 

The meetings will be 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Silverdale Community Centers Evergreen Room, 9729 Silverdale Way.  The public is welcome.  Tuesday's meeting will be informal because most of the members nominated by the county commissioners haven't been voted on.  There are issues, however, that Rogers didn't want to put off until April, he

said.  The agenda for the rest of the year will also be set Tuesday, he said. 

The position description called for citizens with an interest or experience in transportation planning, traffic engineering and inter-governmental coordination.  That's what the county got — a mix of interest and experience.  Some members are knowledgeable and have been in the industry for years while others are simply interested community members, Rogers said. 

One item on the agenda this year will be updating the non-motorized transportation plan, Rogers said.  Other topics will be levels of service, the selection process for road projects and the six-year transportation improvement program. 

"This group will be looking at trying to come up with a decision on what is an acceptable level of service," Rogers said. " We have to come together as a county and decide how much congestion we're willing to accept before it has to be fixed, and then come up with ways to fix it." 

Congestion isn't a major problem yet, Rogers said, although there are a few county roads that get jammed up during peak periods.  The state is responsible for many of Kitsaps busiest roads. 

"That's one reason we want them at the table as well as all of the cities," Rogers said of the committee. " Hopefully we can get some good coordination going on, make sure our long-range planning goals are all coordinated and everybody knows what's going on."