Police Departments’ 2004 traffic plan designed to enforce and educate

Published 3:57 pm Thursday, April 30, 2009

By Dennis Box, The Courier-Herald

The Bonney Lake Police Department is kicking off an extensive 2004 traffic plan to control the mounting problems with speeding, congestion and dangerous driving in Bonney Lake neighborhoods.

The explosive growth of the Bonney Lake area - nearly 1,000 new residents moving in each year - has brought with it the community headache of cars, cars and more cars.

"Because of our growth we have some real problems with traffic" Police Chief Bryan Jeter said. "Traffic impacts our quality of life. We've received numerous complaints of speeding, people hurrying and cutting through neighborhood. We're trying to listen to what our citizens are saying. Any city that's growing like this one is going to have traffic problems."

Jeter and his department have put together an eight-point plan to attack the problem from both an enforcement and education angle.

"We want to raise people's awareness." Jeter said. "Locust Street, Myers Road and other streets aren't designed for heavy traffic. They don't look residential, but there are driveways coming right out on the road."

€ The first phase of the plan is to reassign Officer Vince Sainati back to traffic patrol. Officer Sainati was assigned to traffic last year, but due to other demands he was unable to work traffic on a consistent basis.

As of Jan. 16, Sainati was again patrolling the streets enforcing traffic laws and investigating accidents.

The Police Department will also send Sainati around the community to educate the public about traffic problems and solutions.

€ Another step in the traffic plan will be to use the radar trailer to monitor and collect data on traffic patterns and violators and remind drivers of their speed.

The data the trailer collects will help the department decide where to deploy its staff.

€ The citizens radar program is an effort by the police department to involve the community in collecting data on vehicle speeds in their neighborhoods.

Three people from a neighborhood will check the radar system out, one to direct the radar gun, one to collect the data and one to write down a license number and description of a vehicle and driver.

A community service letter will be sent to violators.

€ The traffic calming program, started by Councilman Neil Johnson, has also become part of the 2004 plan. The Police Department will work with the City Council and residents to analysis and review data about neighborhood traffic problems.

"A lot of traffic is perception," Jeter said. "If someone is on a back street going 25 it can look faster. But the speed limit is the maximum speed under safe conditions. The traffic calming program helps gives us objective information so we can decide if the answer is enforcement, education or maybe turtles in the street or speed bumps."

€ Beginning Sunday the department will initiate the "street of the week" program. Every week a street will be chosen and each officer along with Sainati will patrol the street for one hour of their shift.

The first street designated to be street of the week is Angeline Road.

€ The Bonney Lake Police Department and the Tacoma/Pierce County DUI Task Force are conducting emphasis patrol throughout the county. The multiagency effort seeks out drunk or impaired drivers in a particular area over a weekend.

The Bonney Lake emphasis patrol will begin Feb. 13.

€ Along with the neighborhood enforcement, the public schools within the department's jurisdiction will receive extra attention. A school resource officer will be available to enforce traffic safety in school zones and other officers will be available to assist schools in other areas.

"Schools have a lot of issues they should call the Police Department on and they don't," Jeter said.

There are three schools in the jurisdiction of the department - Bonney Lake Elementary, Emerald Hills Elementary and Mountain View Junior High.

€ Public education on safe driving will be an integral part of the Department's push for safer roads, Jeter said. Training and safety classes will be offered at local driving schools and the senior center.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald