by Jeremy Bertrand

You asked, and we listened. Using your feedback, we’ve made some upgrades to our text messaging service. Instead of getting a text message from a different number every time you receive one of our alerts, each text will come from one number: 468311. No more getting texts from a different number every time, which will allow you to add that number to your address book and keep those texts more organized on your device. But wait, there’s more.

We’ve also added the ability for you to subscribe and unsubscribe to our two most popular text topics, Hood Canal and 520 bridge openings, by sending a simple text to start and stop the service.

Remember, because the east navigation channel of the 520 bridge is temporarily blocked by construction equipment, we have to open the bridge for marine traffic more often. To make sure you know about those openings, we send two text messages to 520 bridge alert subscribers, the first two hours before the opening and the second thirty minutes before the opening, so that you know when it’s ok to travel across the bridge.

We’ve also made it much easier to manage your 520 bridge alert subscription. To subscribe to texts about 520 bridge openings, send a text with the words “WSDOT 520” to 468311 and you’ll start receiving those updates. To stop, send a text with the words “WSDOT stop” and you will no longer receive them.

The Hood Canal bridge also opens for marine traffic. To be notified about those openings, just send a text with the words “WSDOT hood” to 468311 and you’ll start receiving text updates. To stop getting those updates, send a text to 468311 with the words “WSDOT stop” and you’ll immediately be unsubscribed.

Thanks for letting us know what you wanted from the service, hope you like these improvements!

by guest blogger Joe Irwin

Having personally been stuck in the traffic backups caused by the Hood Canal Bridge countless times, both heading to and coming from the Olympic Peninsula, I can attest that they’re pretty much a way of life for residents and visitors to the area.

But, like traffic jams the world over, they’re also about as fun as a root canal without Novocain.

Over the years, it’s come to my attention that while sitting in traffic on SR 3 is bad enough for motorists, it can be even worse for homeowners who live along the northbound lane of the highway.  Imagine that you’re four car-lengths from home and can’t get there because the bridge is open, traffic is backed up and some other motorist has blocked your driveway.  Or that you have tickets to a show in Seattle, and have to catch a ferry, but can’t leave your house because a semi is blocking you in.

Frustrating? You bet.

Some North Kitsap residents have experienced this sort of frustration day-in and day-out for years, decades even.

Hash marks designate "do not block" zones

In an effort to relieve this long-standing problem, WSDOT has painted hash in 36 driveways, designating them as “do not block” zones, and added six signs along northbound SR 3 to inform motorists not to block these areas.  The signs and markings will make it easier for drivers to identify where they shouldn’t stop during bridge openings.

Is it illegal to stop your car in front of these driveways? No. But we’re hoping these signs and markings will serve as constant reminders to SR 3 motorists to be good neighbors to residents who live along the highway.  They’ve put up with this issue for years, after all. 

Let’s help them out… and into their driveways.