Can't county, state coordinate road plans?
Monday, September 24, 2007 at 04:16PM Saturday's info bazaar and town meeting in Pahoa sponsored by Councilwoman Emily Naeole was an impressive event with lots of people sharing ideas and information with dozens of county officials and private social services agencies. I heard a number of good reviews from people who attended.
I stopped by the state Department of Transportation table where newly drawn plans for a roundabout on Route 130 at the Kahakai intersection were on display. State DOT highways engineer Stanley Tamura was quick to say however that it was only a tentative plan for study at this point and no firm plans are made yet to build a roundabout. One of the problems identified by the state was the lower traffic speed (as low as 25 mph) that would be required on the roundabout.
What was most unsettling however were the blank faces when I asked about the nearby Malama Market intersection on Route 130 which is as bad if not worse for safety than the Kahakai intersection. The roundabout plan was also a three-way intersection as it did not include opening up the connection to the old Government Road. The reason given was that opening it up to four ways would involve the county in the project. The same reason was given for the lack of plans at the Malama Market intersection, and it just seemed a matter of fact that the county and state transportation planners live and work on two different planets and never the twain shall meet.
With this "problem" existing at almost every turn on Route 130, it's high time this kind of shibai ceases to be an impediment to traffic safety improvements in Puna. It should be imperative that where the state and county roads intersect that the respective agencies be compelled to coordinate their planning efforts, cooperate on these important projects, and work together for the benefit of all taxpayers instead of working solely only within their own agencies, throwing up their hands and saying "no can do."
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Reader Comments (33)
It was definitely a good opportunity for the community.
Talked to the DOT folks -- nice guys, without a clue.
Any idea of total attendance?
However, they sure had a lot of excuses! I mentioned opening up the closed off portion of the old road into Pahoa on the Hilo side of Malama Market .... for an entrance only to Malama Market. Cars coming from Hilo wouldn't have to go through the present mess...making the entrance into Pahoa a lot less dangerous. The excuse? People wouldn't have time to decide to get off the Highway so soon. HUH? So we aren't smart enough to know when we want to turn....it takes us too long to decide?
I also told them that the Malama double intersection was more dangerous than the Kahakai intersection. Clueless! They claim they watched the intersection for 2 mornings and 2 evenings, never saw more than a few cars. So, everyone with a still or Video Camera, let's show them the truth! Hunter, do you have an e-dress for something like this?
So, again, they were Brave to come out this way ..... but so-o-o-o-o-o clueless!
Kim
I too was amazed that the State chose to only make a three way roundabout at the top of Kahakai. It was indeed the State that cut the intersection of Hwy 130 and isolated the old Kahakai Blvd. from it's original four-way intersection. I noticed that there was interest in making the Post Office Road a better intersection too since it is also a four-way intersection and is the only access to the HAAS Charter School.
I feel like if the State cuts off a roadway, the least that they should do is to open it again at Kahakai and make the roundabout a four-way to include a new way of entering Pahoa rather than the poorly designed Road-A at Malama. Nothing is said about opening up the old Pahoa Road where it was also cut off at the State's bidding when the By-Pass was finally done years after the sugar cane hauling had stopped, which was the original idea behind the By-Pass in the first place.
If we cannot get the state to co-operate with the County, how will we address the seven intersections between Kea`au and Pahoa? I personally support even a three-way roundabout at Kahakai, because it will save lives, but what will we see at the Malama intersection? I noticed as well that they had marked out for purchase, a portion of private property on the mauka side of the intersection where Kahakai used to cross Hwy 130. Did they give this roadway to the private land owners? It used to be Kahakai Blvd. Why can't they just re-open that side?
We must be vigilent to the possibility that this is just a distraction which they never intend to actually build. That would be a big mistake, and we should be a strong part of the decision making so that the County and State are introduced to "Cooperation". Do you think it can happen, or are we doomed to separate worlds like you mentioned.
I keep hope alive, however, since we at least got their attention. Perhaps further discussions will allow us to offer sensible alternatives to this and the other six or seven intersections that would be well served by roundabouts. Remember that all but two of the existing intersections between Kea`au and Pahoa are three-way intersections, which if planned well would allow for a small "By-Pass" of the whole roundabout so that traffic not entering the roundabout could continue at a more rapid speed - say 35 or 45 miles per hour.
Wayne Yoshioka, the special consultant for the Puna CDP, is scheduled to give another update of his concept for traffic through out Puna. Hopefully his presentation will include a real discussion about alternative ways in and out of Puna via a Puna Makai Alternative Route, and a Puna Mauka Alternative Route (Both called PMAR). His presentation is set for Oct. 4th at the Kea`au Community Center or possibly at another location. I'll keep you informed when I can find out the exact date and time for that meeting. Please make sure everyone knows about this meeting, because we are coming down to the finish line late this year or early next year for the full CDP. The final Puna CDP will need to be discussed fully with lots of Public Input before it goes to Council where we can input even a little bit more.
Mahalo,
Keola Downing
Jane
There were over 100 in attendance. There is not an accurate count, but I was serving free hot dogs and had over 100 eaten. How many who blog on this site showed up? I saw Kim and Hunter.
Kim, the cant open either of the blocked off entrances you mentioned because that would mean that those businesses would now be on the highway and that if you ask some people is a "no no".
After reading the County of Hawaii General Plan it states under Puna profile; "Centralization of commercial activities in Pahoa Town, rather than along the Paho By-Pass, to serve the residents of lower Puna shall be Encouraged". Now this is where it gets kinda silly. As long as you do not access these business from the Hwy, than they are not really on the Hwy.
Make sense!
P.S. I also talked to the "boys" and I can assure you we are gonna have to fight like "Kamakazies" to get a roundabout!
"Why are you here, Auntie?"
"I want to put a highway through your front yard."
It should get interesting at that point.
But getting back on topic, this shows yet again the lack of coordination between the county and state. I know Naeole has taken it upon herself to declare the need for the road, because she is freaked out over the volcano. Even I have come to understand that. But why stage a parade though the area without getting some expert consultation about where to put the thing if it indeed has to be built.
It looks like grandstanding to me. Everybody knows you have to get a world of studies done before you can build a highway. Why not coordinate that and get it rolling? If there is a need to grandstand, do it by pointing out the lack of interest on the part of the transportation officials who are REALLY responsible for this sort of thing.
I believe it to be a smoke screen when it comes to a roundabout on highway #130. I do believe that the state’s position on roundabouts is:
Forget it you bunch of bonehead country bunkins, you ain’t a gonna get it.
I asked Stanley Tamura some questions about the single sheet plan he had displayed on his table like:
Question: “Why don’t you guys open up the old Kahakai road and make a four way roundabout, after all you guys blocked it off for the bypass?”
Answer: “That land belongs to the county and we have nothing to do with it, our hands are tied.”
Question: “Isn’t that intersection at Malama shopping center more dangerous?”
Answer: “That’s not what we are talking about here, we are addressing Kahakai Blvd intersection.”
Question: “Don’t you think that the two intersections are linked together and should be considered as one problem?”
Answer: “No, each has it’s own set of problems.”
Question: “ Why can’t you guys open up the old Pahoa road, close off the intersection at Malama’s, and put in a four way roundabout at Kahakai?”
Answer: “Because that would cause us to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph at the roundabout to make it work. We believe that is too much of a reduction from 55 mph to 25 mph and people would get confessed.”
Question: “Do you think that reducing your speed from 55 mph to zero to make a left turn across traffic is safer?”
Answer: “One must learn to yield before crossing traffic, and that is a major problem with a roundabout if cars don’t yield properly it will cause many accidents. I’m not in favor of having a roundabout on highway #130.”
So folks if you think that a roundabout will ever see the day of light you are dreaming. These folks from the state with their phoney incomplete one sheet set of plans to make us feel like they are lessening to us is a bunch of bull. They have already made up their minds on what they are going to do. They just don’t want to let us know what it is at this time. They have just thrown up some more smoke and told the country bunkins to “shove off.”
The Lack
Laurie, I understand the Highway access thing....but at this time many cars access this through one of the most dangerous intersections in the State to get off 130 .... right into another very dangerous intersection. Anyway, the actually entrance would be off the Pahoa road .... though barely. Oh, Your Hot Dogs were great!
Goyo, I think you've got an idea. Washington D.C. has many bypass bypasses.
Kim
I asked similar questions and got the same responses. In a nutshell they see that we the residents of Puna are to stupid to make adjustments and would rather we keep speeding. It appears their intentions are to make Hwy 130 a freeway in the future.
They will never open the other side of Kahakai or the blocked off entrance to Old Pahoa town because, THAT WOULD MAKE THOSE BUSINESSES (for which they made that junk intersection at Malama) ON THE HIGHWAY!. A plan w/good intentions but poorly thought out.
P.S. Sorry Brian forgot to add you to the list of blogging attendees.
Thank you for the dog compliment, hard to mess them "puppies" up (excuse the pun).
While doing that, he/she/it could have been learning that on several occasions there has been "expert consultation about where to put the thing if it indeed has to be built."
Ms. Naeole has not "taken it upon herself to declare the need for the road, because she is freaked out over the volcano..." nor is there a sane reason to say that what she wants is "to put a highway through your front yard"
-- these are lame and pathetic statements.
What Ms. Naeole has been doing is listening to her constituents in HPP, Hawaiian Beaches, Nanawale, Leilani, Waa Waa, Kapoho, etc., and looking at the realities on the ground.
At the HPP Annual General Meeting, the feedback to Ms. Naeole tended to be definitely against a large, high speed highway through HPP. There was more than a little bit of receptiveness to something smaller, more aesthetic, and less imposing.
Tiff, you are wrong. The route scout is not a lame idea.
You will not have to hike alone.
As I recall, the main issues on the delays with Alii Highway initially had to do with the rich indigenous cultural sites that are so common here in Kona along with numerous archeology studies and complying with NEPA. The community opposition was recent happening only in the last 7 years.
As Jim Charlier has said numerous times, building more roads or building new lanes induces more driving and in 5 short years those new roads and lanes will be completely congested. Bottom line is that the answer to our transportation problems is not having more and more roads but rather driving less and living closer to where you work, shop and recreate. So if congestion is bugging you, time to move!