Election 2021: Four candidates seek to fill open Port Orchard at-large council position kitsapsun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kitsapsun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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PORT ORCHARD Design plans by Rice Fergus Miller are underway as the property acquisition phase wraps up for the South Kitsap Community Event Center. Some initial design concepts were presented to the Port Orchard City Council on Tuesday.
Port Orchard Mayor Rob Putaansuu says it will be at least three to five years before construction on the community center begins. The goal for 2021 is to complete design and acquire real estate, he said.
The community center will be at the site of the current Kitsap Bank building, at 619 Bay St. The bank will be rebuilt before the community center can be built. City officials hope the events center will be both a community gathering place and a boost to Port Orchard’s economy.
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The city of Port Orchard has secured more money from the Legislature to continue its Bay Street Pedestrian Pathway, and officials say the city is on track to begin construction in time to meet a deadline imposed by federal grants secured for the project.
The city secured $2 million from the Legislature in its recently concluded session to pay for the remainder of the project, which would complete the vision of a 1-mile-long route from the Port Orchard foot ferry to the Annapolis ferry. The city has completed segments of the pathway from the Port Orchard ferry to Westbay Center. The 14-foot-wide paved path will have two 5-foot bike lanes with 2-foot shoulders.
PORT ORCHARD With fast ferry service from Southworth scheduled to start this year and an increasing number of new housing projects on the horizon in South Kitsap, Kitsap Transit is moving forward with plans to build a new park and ride in Port Orchard.
The planned park and ride will be located on Sidney Avenue near the intersection of Sedgwick Road, west of Highway 16. The project will include 250 parking stalls and three bus bays for staging and making connections, according to Kitsap Transit executive director John Clauson.
“We’re in need of additional parking pretty much everywhere,” Clauson said.
Transit officials hope the park and ride will help alleviate congestion in Gorst and support commuters traveling to downtown Port Orchard, Bremerton and the Southworth ferry. The Sidney site was picked after a yearlong study for its proximity to Highway 16 and how it fits into the city of Port Orchard’s plans for the area around Ruby Creek, where multiple large apartment