In reference to Randy Boss’ letter printed July, 2004:

There he goes again — more wrong information from a man who was a leader in the delaying tactics that doubled the cost of a new bridge we could be driving on today.

Why Randy Boss continues to write absolutely wrong information about the Narrows Bridge project saddens and angers me. What is the sense of this kind of deception?

It is simply not true, as Mr. Boss writes, that the project will only “add one new HOV lane in each direction.”

The new bridge will be 50-percent wider than the current bridge. It will have three 12-foot-wide lanes, 10-foot-wide inside and outside shoulders for disabled vehicles to get out of live traffic lanes, and a 10-foot wide barrier-separated bike path. The current bridge, which now has only 9-foot-wide lanes separated by open grating and virtually no shoulders, will be reconfigured to three 12-foot wide lanes and an 8-foot-wide outside shoulder for disabled vehicles.

Separating the opposing traffic, providing 12-foot lanes and providing shoulders for disabled vehicles will greatly enhance traffic flow and safety. Because of the new bridge construction the state has contributed about 400 million dollars for improvements to Highway 16.

It is also not true, as Mr. Boss writes, that I opposed the cross-sound bridge because it would bring traffic into South Kitsap where I live. I’ve had nothing to do with the demise of this idea.

The cross-sound bridge idea has been around since the 1940s. The closest it ever came to being seriously considered was in 1959 when a proposal was killed by one vote in the Legislature. The stretch from Vashon Island to Seattle is huge compared to the Narrows and the water very deep, a major consideration even with today’s tunnel/bridge technology. Today, at a minimum, it would take a $10 one-way toll to pay for such a bridge and no one is willing to finance this project.
If Mr. Boss wants to object to the Narrows Bridge project, so be it, but he should at least be honest about what is said and printed.

State Senator Bob Oke
Port Orchard