Driving on Bainbridge’s Demilitarized Zone (Madison Avenue) is no fun, but our City Manager, who is Equally Frustrated, Preaches Patience!

It’s maddening! We’re talking about the long-suffering Madison Avenue Road repair project. If you’ve had the opportunity, or better yet, made the mistake of driving on one of our island’s main north-south arterials from New Brooklyn to High School Road and from the Big Roundabout (at High School and Madison) to Wyatt Way you experienced Bainbridge’s version of the Demilitarized Zone.

It’s a bloody mess, as our friends from Merry Old England might say. Driving on it is like being in a half-track on some muddy road in the outback of Afghanistan. Or perhaps on a Forest Service Road in the Olympics in search of an elusive trailhead. Any way you slice it, it’s no fun and a bit of a nuisance, even driving city officials to the brink of annoyance. Check out these comments from Bainbridge Island City Manager Blair King:

“A long time ago, I was introduced to the six stages of a project: 1. Enthusiasm, 2. Disillusionment, 3. Panic, 4. Search for the Guilty, 5. Punishment of the Innocent, and 6. Praise and Honor to the Non-participants. (Source unknown – recent reference online in The National Review.)”

“Madison Avenue is in terrible shape right now.” (I believe the entire community would agree with that). “It’s wash boarded, full of potholes, and muddy. Wheelchairs and strollers struggle to cross intersections. The pavement is uneven, and the transition from pavement to gravel or dirt is jarring. We understand that the community is concerned, particularly about the school zone. Motorists are forced to crawl through the construction zone. Things are in bad shape—we get it. I wish it were better.”

“The Madison Avenue project has been in development for several years,” he continues. “In 2021, there was a project to replace the sidewalks. Another project aimed to replace the sewer force main. Improvements for pedestrians and cyclists were also under discussion. The pavement along Madison needed attention due to alligator cracking and pavement fatigue, and some sections of Madison Avenue needed to be reconstructed. In 2022, the idea of comprehensively improving the entire corridor at once emerged with the Bundled Madison Avenue Project. Rather than tearing up the street multiple times, these various projects could be bundled into a single contract, offering cost savings and more efficient construction. This culminated in the $6.5 million Bundled Madison Avenue Project.”

The work, King explains, is funded through a combination of grants and city funds. The Washington Transportation Improvement Board was so impressed with the Complete Streets design of the Bundled Project, he says, that they awarded it a $500,000 grant.

“Now, we’re in the middle of the project—phase 4, ‘search for the guilty.,’” King further emphasizes. “One of the unique challenges with many of the streets and roads on Bainbridge Island is that they were built with an inadequate base—essentially, asphalt on dirt without proper compaction or a gravel foundation. This is the case for Madison Avenue north of High School Road. With the asphalt removed, the community can now see the condition of the base. A solution has been developed, but it has delayed the project.”

WSDOT-SR 305 Lane Striping on for this Week

Meantime, a mile or so away, more road work is being done – this time on the busy corner of Highway 305 and Winslow Way.

As most of us are aware, the City has been in conversations with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Washington State Ferries (WSF) to better improve the ferry and local thru lanes on Highway 305 at Winslow Way. WSDOT will be adding additional striping this coming week. More work will be scheduled in the coming weeks to install the thermoplastic “FERRY” lettering in the right lane approaching Winslow Way.

WSDOT is waiting on materials for that work and expect to complete it before the winter months arrive. The City will continue discussions with WSDOT and WSF on additional improvements

The schedule this week, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day Mon., Sept. 30, through Thurs., Oct. 3, travelers can expect intermittent single lane closures on southbound SR 305 approaching Winslow Way and Harborview Drive for roadway striping. This work is weather dependent and may be rescheduled.