Hawai'i Kai intersections worry residents

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

HAWAI'I KAI — Three intersections that have been a concern for years are getting more and more dangerous, residents say, and they want something done before traffic worsens as new housing developments are completed.

The main area of concern is at the corner of Lunalilo Home Road and Hawai'i Kai Drive, residents say, where cars head to Kalama Valley, go the rest of the way down Lunalilo Home Road or into Mariner's Cove.

Residents say another troubling spot during peak school hours is in front of Kaiser High School, also on Lunalilo Home Road.

The third is on Lunalilo Home Road at Wailua Street, where it's difficult to make a left turn.

The traffic problems will only worsen when all the projects that are under construction come on line, said Rep. Bud Stonebraker, R-15th District (Kalama Valley, Portlock). In the next two years, more than 200 new homes and townhomes will be completed, with more on the way over the next few years.

Two of the three problem intersections will be dealt with when developer Stanford Carr, president of SCD International LLC, puts in a left-turn lane onto Wailua Street from Lunalilo Home Road and installs a light at the crosswalks near Kaiser High School by next summer.

Coincidentally, that is where the main entrance to Carr's Peninsula housing development will be.

These traffic hot spots have been a concern for a number of years, said Charlie Rodgers, Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board chairman. The city has done studies, even made some modifications, but the residents still feel more tweaking is necessary.

"The left turn into Mariner's Cove is ridiculous," Rodgers said. "When the city did the study, which was as the result of our complaints, it followed through and did all this stuff we didn't ask for."

It was more than a year ago when the city put in a left-turn arrow at Hawai'i Kai Drive into Mariner's Cove and made one lane a right-turn lane and the third straight back into the valley on Lunalilo Home Road, Rodgers said.

Herb Schreiner, a police officer and Hawai'i Kai resident, said the traffic into Kalama Valley is increasing and the Hawai'i Kai Drive and Luna-

lilo Home Road intersection is just getting busier. There are many visual obstacles — from a tall hedge to a bus stop near the corner — that motorists encounter when navigating the intersection, he said.

"If you're turning left to go to Kalama Valley, it's hard because you can't see what cars are coming," Schreiner said. "My suggestion is to put sensors in so if the traffic backed up, the light goes on the maximum length of time."

Carr said he worked with the high school principal and the city to put in a light crossing Lunalilo Home Road.

"It all came out of our traffic study that we did when we bought the property," Carr said. "These are being designed now and put in sometime next year. We're doing this on our own because we recognize the need and we want to be a good neighbor. It's not a condition of approval for any permits."