Honokai Hale to get second traffic signal
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
As the population of the Wai'anae Coast has grown, causing busy commuter traffic on Farrington Highway, a single traffic light serving Honokai Hale's 1,200 residents has become overtaxed.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The small group of homes between Kapolei and the Kahe Point electric power plant can be reached from Farrington Highway by two access roads. One intersection, at La'aloa Street, has a traffic light.
Making a left-hand turn onto Waiomea Street from Farrington Highway can be dangerous. There is no stoplight.
A state contractor will begin installing Honokai Hale's second stop light April 9 at the intersection of Farrington Highway and Waiomea Street.
"There has been a need at the other end of the subdivision for a traffic light for years," said long-time resident Jane Ross. "It will probably make everybody in Nanakuli upset, but it is just one of those things. Honokai Hale is no longer 'country.'
"Residents have a very hard time getting out at Waiomea, and anyone crossing the street takes their life in the their hands, literally."
Karl Kunishige, with the state Department of Transportation's traffic division, said the $2 million-project will include the traffic light, additional lighting, extensions to the left-turn lane, concrete median barriers and drainage improvements. A 6-foot-wide, makai-side sidewalk with curb ramps will meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
Mega Construction is the general contractor. Work is expected to be completed in early December.
A woman and a child were hit by a car and killed several years ago while crossing the highway at Waiomea.
"That spurred on our efforts," Ross said.
Ross said that stretch of Farrington Highway is notorious for speeding because it connects to the H-1 freeway. Many Honokai Hale residents now take back streets to reach the light at La'aloa Street rather than risk trying to get on Farrington from Waiomea.
"Cars speed through the area, and drivers think it is part of the freeway. It is a residential area," Ross said. "The light will be a great help for all the people down here. We have waited a long time."
Kunishige said the project was to begin in 1998 but was delayed when bids came in too high, and design plans were changed.
