Second road to Wai'anae reviewed
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Transportation Writer
City and state officials will meet today to review whether a second primary road that would provide access to the Wai'anae Coast can be built for less than the state's estimate of $500 million.
The new proposed road would follow a route similar to the state's plan to go through or over the Wai'anae Range.
For decades, Leeward residents have pushed for a second road because any closure of Farrington Highway, the only road linking the coastal communities, can bring traffic to a standstill.
Duke Bainum, City Council Transportation Committee chairman, and district councilman John DeSoto plan to meet with Leeward state legislators.
"The state came up with a figure that we think was on the high side," said Bainum, who is also the outgoing chairman of the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, a transportation advisory group. "We just want to open up some dialogue and look at the possibility of a feasibility study."
Bainum said today's meeting among elected officials and community leaders is an informal discussion. He would not speculate on their projected cost of a permanent secondary road, but others involved are saying the cost to build a two-lane road could range from $35 million to $150 million.
State transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said the state has already looked at the route and doesn't believe it can be done at a significantly lower price.
"We get about $100 million in federal funding for highway projects each year," Kali said. "It would be five years of not doing other major projects to focus on this. We have Neighbor Island projects that we need to look at as well."
The city already has a plan to link a patchwork of existing back roads along the Leeward Coast to create an emergency route. That would allow area residents to bypass bottlenecks and situations such as accidents, fires or water main breaks on Farrington Highway.
The city approved spending $1 million for a consultant for the planned emergency road, and another $5 million for construction in the 2002 budget. Mayor Jeremy Harris has recently said the total project for the emergency road could cost between $30 million and $48 million. "We just want to throw around ideas and see what comes out," Bainum said.
Recent state studies have estimated the cost of building an additional road to the coast at between $365 million and $500 million, not including the cost of buying land.
Gov. Ben Cayetano said a road over the Wai'anae mountain range could cost as much as $1 billion, which prompted him to cancel a study on the project last year.
The most likely path would be from Lualualei above Nanakuli, over the Wai'anae range at Pohakea Pass and down into Kunia in Central Oahu.
City transportation director Cheryl Soon said the proposed road could follow an old cattle trail that would lead to Pohakea Pass.
"We're awaiting word from our consultant in about two months on the feasibility of it," Soon said. "On the Kunia side, its relatively flat until you hit the mountain top. On the Nanakuli side, you would probably have to build a snakelike road to eventually reach the top."
There are no large gulches or ravines that would require the construction of a bridge, she said.
But Soon and DeSoto say some tunneling would be required to get through the mountain, an expensive part of any road construction project.
DeSoto, who took a helicopter ride with the mayor recently to view the possible route, said there are other obstacles to consider.
One is discussions with the military on using a portion of its property for the Leeward side of the road. The other is with using Campbell Estate land on the Kunia side, much of it lying in a 3,700-acre Honouliuli natural preserve.
"It should be a health and safety issue rather than a cost issue," DeSoto said. "But if it is anything near the state's estimate, we'll probably scrap the idea as well."
Scott Ishikawa's e-mail address is sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
