Deadly Wahiawa corner gets help
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central OÎahu Writer
Former state Sen. Randy Iwase drove by the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Leilehua Golf Course Road recently, outside Wheeler Army Airfield, and noticed a traffic light being installed. He thought about his friend, Advertiser photographer Carl Viti, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle there in November 1996.
"I had always pushed for a traffic light there," said Iwase, who got the Legislature to budget for the signal before leaving office last year. "But after what happened to Carl, it got real personal for me, because I knew him. He was a good man, and his life was cut short because of what happened."
By late December or early January, five years after Viti was killed, the traffic light will be operational.
"It's a sigh of relief for a lot of us," Iwase said. "There were too many victims on that stretch."
One other person was killed at the intersection in 1996, and two died in 1997. There have been no deaths along the lonely stretch of road between Wahiawa and Mililani since 1998, but police reported 13 major accidents and 36 minor crashes.
"Many times we've responded or had to call the ambulance," said Sgt. Ivan Felix, who has been stationed at the Hawai'i National Guard Armory next to the intersection since 1992. "A lot of people were turning on and off the highway, and there was nothing controlling the flow of traffic."
Drivers say the problem also stems from motorists driving much faster than the 35 mph speed limit. Motorists turning left from Kamehameha Highway onto Leilehua Golf Course Road have a hard time seeing oncoming traffic if they are traveling over the hillside at 60 mph.
Sgt. Fay Tamura of the Wahiawa police station said the intersection has gotten busier over the years with the growth of nearby Mililani Technology Park and Launani Valley residential subdivision.
Drivers also use the intersection to reach the H-2 Freeway.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
State officials said the $2.5 million traffic signal project was more expensive and took longer than usual to complete because there was no electrical source nearby. An average traffic light costs about $500,000 to install.
Since 1998, police have reported 13 major accidents at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Leilehua Golf Course Road.
The project added electrical wiring, extended the left-turn lane and installed a right-turn lane, said state transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali.
"The utility and drainage work is what increased the cost," she said, noting that several telephone lines also will have to be relocated.
"With the changes, hopefully the intersection will be a little safer," Iwase said. "But it still boils down to people driving responsibly."
Reach Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
