All posts by Kirk Hall

The Traffic Mess – 122nd St E. & Shaw Rd. E.

Public Service Announcements, Safety

Currently new roads are being approved or updated without looking first at what the end result of those projects will be. Three good examples come readily to mind.

  1. Shaw Rd. E. on Puyallup’s South hill was closed for many months, which forced traffic to find alternate routes to areas south of Puyallup. Traffic increased on Military Rd./122nd E. as a result, and when Shaw Rd. E. reopened it was with a series of planters down the middle and an extra wide sidewalk on the east side. Effectively it is still a two-lane road, which now will be more costly to widen because of the useless planters and wide sidewalk.
  2. A new road has been approved from the huge Tehaleh subdivision to SR162 in the valley. This will route more vehicles up Military Rd. E./122nd E.
  3. A new 120-unit subdivision is being constructed on the corner of Shaw Rd. E. and 122nd E. The planners stated that it would put almost 1000 new trips per day on 122nd St. E. yet would “have no significant impact on traffic in the area”.

In all three cases the result has been/will be greatly increased traffic on 122nd St. E. with vehicles trying to get to South Meridian and/or points south.  Already Military Rd. E. is a virtual parking lot at certain times of the day.

I live east of Shaw Rd. E. and must take 122nd St. E. to access the main part of South Hill unless I want to go down into the valley and take SR 162 in a very circuitous route. As you know the traffic on 122nd St. E. has increased several fold over what it was as little as seven years ago. I no longer take Military Rd. E. to the intersection of 122nd St. E. and Military Rd. E. when I am going down into the valley as I feel it has become too dangerous to do so. A couple of years ago I was entering 122nd St. E. from Military Rd. E. traveling towards Shaw Rd. E. and had accelerated so that I was a hundred yards or so on 122nd St. E. I was overtaken by a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed which swerved into the oncoming lane to pass me and then swerved back to miss the oncoming vehicles. Fortunately, this is not a common occurrence, but I remember it many times when I go onto 122nd St. E.

Now we have another potentially serious problem at the corner of Shaw Rd. E. and 122nd St. E.  where a housing project with 120 dwellings is being built. I understand that homes 300ft. from the project were notified of it and a yellow sign was posted along Shaw Rd. E. at some time.  Since there is no place to pull off and read the sign it was not very informative. Therefore, the project was kept pretty quiet. I understand that it is estimated that the project will generate almost 1000 trips a day, and this was deemed as insignificant. So insignificant that a dedicated turn lane was not even required.  When the road from Tehaleh is pushed through and traffic uses 122nd St. E. to access South Hill, South Meridian and all the subdivisions to the south, things will become truly horrible.

It seems to me that Pierce County is going at things backward.  They have known for a long time that their plans will funnel traffic through 122nd St. E., turning a sleepy secondary road into a nightmare for residents who live along it.  Especially since some homes have driveways which meet 122nd St. E. directly. Would not it have made more sense to first connect 122nd St. E. to S. Meridian even if you had to exercise Imminent Domaine to do so and widen the existing 122nd St. E. to accommodate the increased traffic that other road projects will bring? Or perhaps extend 128th St. E. so that it meets 128th St. E.  on the top of South Hill. Instead, Pierce County has chosen to create a problem by not looking at the consequences of their actions and doing things backward. When Pierce County closed Shaw Rd. E. for a long project, people discovered that they could go from the valley and up Military Rd. E./122nd St. E. to bypass the construction on Shaw Rd. E. This greatly increased the traffic on Military Rd. E./122nd St. E., and it remains increased to this day. The plan to drive a new road into the valley from Tehaleh will surely increase the traffic up Military Rd. E./122nd St. E. many fold.

It is past time for Pierce County to be proactive in its road planning and to look at the problems new roads will produce.  Then they can start at the correct place to alleviate potential problems the increase in traffic will cause.

Stolen Mail – Packages & Voting Ballots

Neighborhood Security, Safety

I received the information below from one of our neighbors. Stolen mail is a chronic problem these days.

I found both my mailbox and the neighbor’s open last Sunday morning after forgetting to get my mail on Saturday evening (10/16).  A package was likely stolen as Amazon stated it was delivered but we didn’t receive it.  We reported it with the USPS.  I just recognized this evening that Val and I didn’t receive our voting ballots for the upcoming election.  After looking it up, I find they were sent out on Friday 10/15 (the day before).  Now I suspect that maybe someone was collecting ballots for nefarious reasons.

I thought I might inform you as this might have happened to others in the neighborhood and folks might not recognize the didn’t get their ballot until it was too late to vote.  I sent an email to the Pierce County election office for guidance and then navigated to the  https://voter.votewa.gov/WhereToVote.aspx   site to check my voting status.  I was able to have a new ballot mailed to me from that site (in the location where you view your voting status).  Hopefully I will have more information by tomorrow (Friday).  I’ll let you know if I receive more information.

 

Junk Lot on 136th Ave. East

Neighborhood Security, Safety

A message from the Sunrise Terrace Homeowners Group

Dear Sunrise Terrace and Shawnee Homeowners,

We hope you can help us out this week by sending a brief email or phone call to Jason Arbogast at Pierce County Code Enforcement.  His phone number is 253-798-8582 and his email is jason.arborgast@piercecountywa.gov

The issue is the former caretaker’s lot, Parcel # 0419122068, 11715 136th Ave E.  The lot is now filled with junk cars, 2 RV’s, miscellaneous tent-like structures and garbage.  For reference in your email, Code enforcement case numbers are 71874 and 71875.  Jason Arbogast was assigned the case when these issues were first reported to Pierce County Code Enforcement in January 2021.  If you want to read more details check out the Pierce County Code Enforcement website, https://www.piercecountywa.gov/1571/Code-Enforcement

Scroll down to case search and enter number 71874 to see the status.

What’s changed since January is the addition of a 2nd RV on Oct. 1 which is now occupied (lights on at night), additional inoperable and damaged vehicles and more accumulation of solid waste and garbage.  In case you missed it we had an erratic driver on 136th Ave E the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 21.  The driver knocked over a “stop sign warning” sign, hit a tree, drove off the east side of 136th Ave over a rhododendron and straight into the gate code security post on the driveway next to 11715 136th Ave.  From what has been seen on the cameras a car similar to that of the erratic driver may now be parked inside the fence on the “junk” lot.

In January, 2021 the case was closed because the property owner said he would get rid of a vehicle and hire someone to cut down the vegetation but that has not happen.  The case was reopened on Monday, October 11.  If many of us express our concern regarding the code violations we hope the Code Enforcement team will come visit, re-examine the situation and not close the case until it is resolved.  If you have had a personal encounter or issue with the lot occupants that would also be beneficial information for Jason to know.

Thanks in advance for doing what you can to help.

The Good News & The Bad News about 122nd St. E. & Shaw Rd.

Neighborhood Security, Safety

Everyone has seen the work going on at the corner of 122nd St. E. and Shaw Rd.  Most have wondered as I have about just what was happening as there were no signs that I remember seeing posted to tell about the project.  Well, Carol Silvernail has done some digging and has a few facts about the project to share with us.

 First the Good News:  There is none.

Second the Bad News: In Carol’s words.

Sunrise Terrace has seen the work currently going on at the corner of 122nd and Shaw Road.  Many of you have wondered what was happening as we did not see any signs posted to tell us about the project.  Carol Silvernail and Kirk Hall dug into the Pierce County website this weekend for information.  If you want to read about the project look up documents for parcel number 0419114042.  Click on external links to see the correspondence and permit numbers, starting in 2018.  The most recent permit number appears to be 911959.  While we didn’t receive notification apparently according to the County web site a yellow sign was posted on Shaw Road in July 2019 and neighbors in the immediate adjacent lots were notified.  Since we didn’t know about the project however there were no public comments on record. 

The permit has been approved for 20 single family units on the west end of the plot and 100 attached townhouses within the 6.08 net developable acres.  In a hearing examiner’s report dated 11/05/2020 it was stated the homes would be priced “fee simple for entry level purchasers” with a total of 372 parking stalls and 952 average new daily trips.  The report also stated traffic will be of “no significant adverse impact on local roads” and no left turn lane into the development is necessary.  The main entrance will be across from the Shell station on 122nd and an emergency entrance will be on Shaw Road.  The name of the development is Shaw Heights. 

At this point there’s probably not much we can do to express our concern about the high density and impact on traffic but the name that appears as the county contact is Associate Planner Donna Rhea.  Her email is donna.rhea@piercecountywa.gov and her phone number is 253-798-3288.  Mitch Brells and Paul Barber, from the Pierce County Engineering Dept, have also reviewed the project.  Mitch and Paul know our neighborhood well from past issues. 

Kirk’s commentary:  Well Pierce County has done it again.  First, they shut down Shaw Rd for months and ended up with a section of road with a large planter box down the middle and a double wide sidewalk on the east side, effectively blocking expansion of the road to another lane without major expense, leaving us with essentially the same two-lane road we had before.  Then because Shaw was closed for so long people sought another way to get to South Hill, and found it in 122nd, which greatly increased traffic up 122nd. Pierce County has made no provisions for the increased traffic which causes real problems at certain times of the day.

Second, Pierce County has approved a road from the huge subdivision of Tehaleh to go straight down into the valley, where many of the vehicles will then go up 122nd. Because no provisions have been made to find an alternate route (perhaps extending 128th St. into the valley) or widen and control traffic on 122nd St. things are going to get much worse for the people who live along or must enter 122nd St. E., when this project is completed.

And this brings me to the Third point. 952 average trips daily (does that mean that we must double that number to 1,904 to get the number of cars on the road because to me a trip is one in and one out) will be put on the road daily at a place where there is already congestion. To me this doesn’t seem like “no adverse impact on local roads”, especially considering the already bad traffic situation.

I have to wonder what Pierce County is thinking. To me the logical steps would have been to start at Meridian and connect either 120th St or 122nd St as directly as possible to Meridian as these streets have short sections that could be completed for the connection.  The roads (and all of 122nd) would have to be widened to at least three lanes and appropriate traffic lights installed. Then we could talk about putting more traffic on 122nd.  The way it is now traffic will eventually become truly horrible, then years later County will recognize the problem and finally do something about it (hopefully before the year 2051).

 

Road Closure – 122nd St. E.

Neighborhood Events

There appears to be a road closure in the near future which will affect our Neighborhood.  There are signs on 122nd St. E. which advise of a coming closure in August.  It appears that the projected closure time is 2 August to 6 November.

From what I can tell the area of closure on 122nd St. E. will extend from Shaw Rd., west along 122nd St. E. to 122nd Ave. E., a distance of 1920 ft.

If anyone knows more they are welcome to comment on this article.  Just remember to e-mail me at kahalljr@comcast.net if you make a comment so that I can approve it so it can be seen.

Security Cameras vs Home Invaders

Neighborhood Security

I came across this article from Pennsylvania about an incident which happened there on 18 May 2021 and thought it was important enough to share with our Neighborhood. The main point I wish to get across is the fact that the police have a good chance of rounding up all of the people who took part in this Home Invasion.  The homeowner who was the target of the Home Invasion had Security Cameras, which recorded the images of the invaders.  Additionally, many of the man’s neighbors also have Security Cameras and the police were able to obtain further recordings of the invaders, presumably they also recorded the vehicle used by the invaders. With the ever-expanding population in our area and the heavy load on undermanned area law enforcement departments it is essential that we take steps to safeguard our lives, property, and community. One thing all of us can do is invest in Security Cameras for our homes.

Video Cameras at Work

Recent Crime In Our Neighborhood

Neighborhood Security

We received the note below from the Dysons.  It is disturbing.  Please pay attention to people coming into our Neighborhood.  Crime is going up and we must do all we can to combat it.

I need to urgently communicate two security issues for all neighbors.

First, two young males knocked on our door the night before last on Tuesday the 15th. They told me they were pest inspectors and wanted to look around my house. They gave me the names of neighbors who were having their homes inspected. Instinct told me they were lying and I asked them to leave immediately. They would not accept my request. They insisted they needed to look around my property for pests. I had to close the door as I had safety concerns at that point. When I shut the door, I was very nervous they might come back and harm my family or our property.

This evening I went out to start our motor home before leaving on a trip tomorrow and the engine sounded really strange. My husband looked under the motor home and said the catalytic converter had been cut out and damage was done under the vehicle.

I want to alert the neighborhood not only about this theft but also these two young men. They were unwilling to accept my “no” and I was nervous they might come back to harm us or harm our property in some way. My instincts were right. We have notified law enforcement and more than the theft, the safety of people is my main concern.

Second, our family has been threatened and security has become an issue for us with the loss of our son Cooper Dyson who was the young Pierce County Sheriff Deputy who died in the line of duty last year. Please alert the neighbors if they see any suspicious anti-law enforcement threatening behavior to let us know immediately.

Casey Dyson 253-307-8810

New Urgent Information on SR162 Roundabouts

Neighborhood Events

It seems that the Tacoma News Tribune did not give us the entire picture in their article which was referenced in the previous post.  Below is a communication from Maxine Herbert-Hill of the SR162traffic.org committee.  Could the readers of this Blog please pass the informaion along to their friends and neighbors who do not read this Blog?  It is vital that we get at least 100 more signatures on the petition. Go to https://www.sr162traffic.org/ and sign the petition.

I wanted to let you know that the article in the paper and in the online version are untrue.  We have not lost the battle. It wages on with this legislative session.  As you know we are collecting signatures on our petition that the legislators asked for so they can leverage their conversation with others.  The legislators agree with us and will be working to get a new environmental review required for this roundabout.  Pierce County has given their lobbyist a directive to work toward that goal as well.  So with the legislators and Pierce County working with us, this is anything but dead!  I am disappointed in the paper and the reporter that we were not accurately represented even though I sent her documentation on what WSDOT is using to make this roundabout decision and how erroneous it is.  She did not look at anything I provided that would challenge WSDOT.  She just printed everything they said.  It’s what they didn’t say that proves it wrong.  They say only half truths.  The whole truth would reveal how wrong it is.

So if you would please pass on to your Sunrise Terrace folks that this is NOT a lost cause, it is not a done deal.  Only WSDOT thinks so, and they want the rest of the world to think so so they won’t be challenged on it.   We need all the signatures we can get, so if you know anyone who has not signed it, please encourage them to sign it right away.  We only have one more week and we need about 100 more signatures.

Maxine Herbert-Hill  SR162traffic.org committee