By Dave B.
I almost hit a deer the other day. The deer was in a pothole. All I saw were antlers as I slammed on my brakes just in time. Luckily for me (and the deer), the pothole was deep and saved its life.
After the deer got out with great effort, I had to slow down. Cedarhurst has 5,000 (or more) potholes out to Westside Highway and could hold any number of vulnerable creatures trapped below the asphalt.
Is it me or do we have a lot of potholes? My Audi Quatro Z6Q4ACSS has everything under the sun in features, but if it had pothole detection it would never let me leave my driveway. Why is it that, as our streets get more and more beat up from wind, rain, trucks, cars, and occasionally snow and ice, the best King County can do is fill them in sometimes? And not even all of them, as I have seen in past years.
I have watched the road crew move up and down Burma Road, 250th Way, and Shawnee Road with incredible speed, filling 10% of the surface until they are exhausted in 70°-degree weather, then have a smoke and go home for the day.
I have nothing against county workers, but can you at least FILL IN ALL the potholes that are in front of you? Do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars, right? What would happen if you brought onto the Island some paving equipment that PAVES the surface of the road and fills in the potholes that you have been asked to fix?
What a concept. I know, I know, I ask a lot of questions, but really.
I am smart enough to know this would be a slow and painful process for our Island population, but my Audi would thank you for all the damage it does to my beautiful car (which I only fantasize about since I don’t really have one). I don’t even have a driveway!
We pay $6,000 a year in property taxes for our tiny house and yet someone OK’d and spent taxpayer money on flashing red lights around our stop signs. Whose idea was that? If you cannot see a big red stop sign at an intersection, then you should NOT be driving!
So, do I have a solution? How about this (a radical idea, but could it work)? Maybe stop paying for poor workmanship from King County? I don’t think so, as we have no choice. Maybe secede and become unincorporated in Kitsap County, which I know has lower tax rates? That way we could live with and not bitch about our poor road conditions.
As the fantastic reporter/writer that I am, I decided to find out what “unincorporated” actually means for Vashon. The definition is “A region located outside the boundaries of any city or municipality, meaning it lacks its own government (city council/mayor) and is instead governed by the county in which it lies.”
That translates to: we are at the mercy of King County and pay high taxes for less than ideal services. If anyone has another, option please let The Loop know.
To King County: Be as it may, please fix our #*%+#&% roads!
