Read and heed
I’m asking for forgiveness from neighborhood drivers if it takes me awhile to get used to the new rules for the school zone at the south end of Rocky Point Road. For years I have been creeping through there at 20 mph ever mindful that the area is frequently patrolled by the Bremerton Police Department. The speed limit in the school zone is still 20 mph, but now you only need to slow down (from 25) when the spiffy new solar-powered signs are flashing (see photo).
The old signs required drivers to go 20 mph from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. It didn’t matter if kids were present or if school was even in session. You had to slow down or risk getting pulled over. Also, the school zone boundaries weren’t clear. Being careful, I used to start slowing down at Jackson Drive and didn’t speed up again and until I was past the Kitsap Bank on Marine Drive. That’s more than a quarter of a mile.
The school zone on Rocky Point Road is clearly marked now and much shorter. Going south, it starts at the Westgate Fire Station and runs to the stop sign at Marine Drive. Going north, you are in the school zone as soon as you turn onto Rocky Point Road from Marine Drive until you reach the fire station. The big parking lot on the south side of the fire station and the stretch between 17th Street and Jackson Drive aren’t part of the school zone even though lots of kids cross the street there.
The new signs are helpful, but so far Bremerton hasn’t taken a similar approach on Marine Drive. It’s still 20 mph there in the school zone from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. Exactly where the boundaries are isn’t clear.
Dora Avenue, which runs along the east side of Crownhill School, is less strict on its school zone. The sign on Dora requires drivers to go 20 mph when children are present, making it a judgment call. I don’t ever drive on Dora Avenue so I don’t know if the BPD enforces the sign.
My guess is that Marine Drive and Dora Avenue will eventually have signs like the new ones on Rocky Point Road. By then maybe neighborhood drivers won’t think I’m such a slowpoke.
I should add that I always slow down when I see kids, no matter where I am in relation to the school or what time of day it is.
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