Editorial
Wai'anae relief road more than a cost issue

The calculus applied to most highway projects generally balances costs against gains made in transportation efficiency and safety and driver convenience.

That's good enough in most cases, but not in the case of the proposed "second" access to the Wai'anae Coast. The issue here is far more complex: the health and safety of an entire community.

That's why it is crucial that the potentially excessive cost of a major second route into and out of Wai'anae must not totally shut down exploration of some sort of relief route.

Today, there is but one route into and out of the Leeward Coast: Farrington Highway. And as residents have discovered only too often, when an accident or Mother Nature closes part of the highway, they are virtually trapped.

It's a positive sign that Honolulu Council members are meeting with Leeward state legislators and community leaders to continue exploring what can be done to help the Wai'anae community. There seems to be general agreement that a major new highway punching through or over the Wai'anae mountains is a distant dream. And at a price tag of as much as $1 billion, it is doubtful it would be built in anyone's lifetime.

But there are less expensive alternatives that must not be lost in this discussion. The city has begun planning on an emergency patchwork link of back roads along the Leeward Coast to create an emergency route.

The total cost of that project would be between $30 million and $50 million. The state receives around $100 million a year in federal highway money. Surely some of that money can be combined with city transportation funding to get moving on this crucial health and safety issue.