Money set for Wai'anae route

By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau

WAI'ANAE — Just more than a year ago, Wai'anae residents had little hope of ever seeing an access road into the rural community to provide a safe exit in case of emergencies and a way around roadblocks that have left drivers baking for hours on Farrington Highway, the only direct artery through the area.

	Public meeting
•	What: City plan for an emergency access road for the Leeward Coast
•	When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
•	Where: Nanakuli High School cafeteria
•	More information: Call 536-6999, ext. 105 or visit the consultant's Web site

City transportation director Cheryl Soon said $5 million to start the project is available, and construction crews could begin work soon.

"We want to get some prioritization from them as to which phases to start immediately," Soon said. "We have money in the budget to go ahead and get started on the final design."

Gov. Ben Cayetano had already told residents there was no way he would build a new road over the Wai'anae Range because, with an estimated price tag of $1 billion, it was too expensive. The Navy's existing road over Kolekole Pass was rejected because it was not made for a large volume of traffic. Extending Farrington Highway around Ka'ena Point was quickly and forcefully rejected by environmentalists and residents alike.

In July 2000, the city stepped in and looked at the problem. What developed was a plan to link a patchwork of 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.

Mayor Jeremy Harris secured $1 million in city money to study the problem and hired a consultant.

Soon said the consultant, Townscape Inc., has finished much of the environmental work, and the city will present the preferred alignment for the route using comments gathered from residents during public meetings last fall. The city has sent notices for Wednesday's meeting to 14,200 Wai'anae Coast homes.

Harris has said the total cost for the emergency road could be between $30 million and $48 million, but Soon hopes the city can improve on that. Costs will also be discussed at the meeting.

"Since the last meeting the consultant has gone through all the sections of the route, been meeting with the land owners and working on the environmental assessment," Soon said. "I am very pleased with the progress we have made."

The access road plan is divided into four sections covering the coastal communities.

The streets for the preferred alignments in each district are:

• Makaha: Kili Drive, Huipu Drive, Lahaina Street, Maiuu Street, Kaulawaha Road, Water Street, Makaha Valley Road and Mahinaau Street.
• Wai'anae: Ala Akau Street, Ala Hema Street, Wai'anae Valley Road and Mill Street.
• Maili/Lualualei: Ma'ili'ili Road, Pa'akea Road, Kaukama Road, Hakimo Road and Lualualei Naval Road.
• Nanakuli: Pohakunui Avenue, makai of Farrington Highway through Nanakuli Beach Park, Nanaikapono Elementary School, and along the coast up to Lualualei Naval Road.

Soon said the road will likely be opened in sections rather than all at once because each area can be used independently of the others, but she could not say when that first section might open.