The Bethel Corridor project will widen a 1 1/2 mile strip of the two-lane Bethel Road into a four-lane commercial corridor from Sedgwick Road to Lund Ave. Improvements will include aesthetic landscaping, crosswalks, intersections with dedicated U-turns, possibly a roundabout or two, and the county’s first pedestrian crosswalks illuminated by lighting installed flush in the street pavement. The plan also incorporates land use standards for commercial properties adjacent to the road.
The planning process included 20 public meetings and involved more than 500 participants during the past year. Community members were given disposable cameras to document their design preferences, and Digital Graphic Studio of Lacey produced a “virtual tour” of what the completed project will look like in 20 years when the landscaping has matured.

The Bethel corridor was the first large-scale public process ever undertaken by Kitsap County, and was done at the urging of outgoing Commissioner Charlotte Garrido.

“We were proposing a large commercial center in a rural area, and we knew that people on both ends of the spectrum would be upset and vigilant no matter what we did. This project seemed like an obvious good place to start in the public involvement process,” commented Monty Mahan, the county’s project coordinator. “The project took the sincere efforts of SCA, local staff and the public who were willing to spend their own time at the table. People from across the spectrum worked together once we got through the initial hostilities, and we had people from all perspectives praise the project once it was done. This is not just a road plan. What really sets it apart is that, for the first time in Kitsap County, commercial development and road enhancements will work together. Usually land and road development get planned separately — and it shows.”.