Posted on: Wednesday, July 11, 2001

City soon to begin Kaimuki traffic project

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau

Work should begin in the near future on changes that the city says would calm traffic and improve business along Wai'alae Avenue, but merchants opposed to the idea haven't given up.

Business owners along Wai'alae Avenue have gathered almost 1,300 signatures on a petition opposing the traffic-calming plan for a two-block area from 11th Avenue to Koko Head Avenue. The plan calls for making the street more pedestrian-friendly, with wider sidewalks, more landscaping and shorter crosswalks.

The opposing merchants say the plan will only limit parking and squelch whatever business remains while the changes are under construction.

"Kahala Mall is just a half-mile away," said Maizie Tsuda, manager of the Tree People, a tree-cutting company. "Why should people come to Kaimuki when they can go to Kahala and park for free?"

The city, she said, should direct its money into providing free parking in the area, not into changing the roadway for those two blocks.

But City Councilman Duke Bainum says the merchants are all wrong.

"The petition is a blatant misrepresentation of the master plan," Bainum said. "No lanes will be lost due to the improvements. Wai'alae Avenue will remain four lanes with a parking lane on each side."

The parking problem cannot be resolved by removing the meters, Bainum said. To do that would really limit parking because people would park there and then go off to work, and there would be no turnover in the lots, he said. Customers would not have any places to park.

The master plan was first presented to the community three years ago, through nine public meetings, Bainum said. Though the petition has been presented to the city, the plan has the support of the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board, and work could begin in the near future, Bainum said.

The first phase, expected to last six months and cost $1.9 million, calls for burying overhead utility lines and widening sidewalks to 10 feet on each side of the street to allow businesses to put up awnings on their storefronts.

"What we did was devise a plan to revive Kaimuki in terms of business diversity," he said. "These people had every opportunity to speak out. We changed the plan based on some of the business owners' concerns for the loss of loading zones.

"We've been nothing but responsive to the businesses' and residents' needs."

Bur Renee Shiroma of Kaimuki Produce said the project needs to be stopped, which is why she put together the petition.

"We're opposed to it because it will eliminate parking," Shiroma said. "If they put tables and benches in, the homeless people will hang out here. Customers won't want to come to the store then."