Doubts raised on Salt Lake roundabout project
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer
SALT LAKE — Community leaders who once supported a city-proposed roundabout to slow traffic fronting Moanalua High School are having second thoughts about the project.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Aliamanu-Salt Lake-Foster Village Neighborhood Board — which in October 2000 unanimously supported a roundabout at the intersection of Ala Napunani and Likini streets near the high school — now wants to ask city transportation officials more questions about the project before construction proceeds. The neighborhood board will hear from city officials Thursday on the matter.
A proposed roundabout at Ala Napunani and Likini streets in Salt Lake would look like this one at Likini and Ala Lilikoi streets. Support from community leaders has waned because of concerns about traffic tie-ups.
Howard Shima, chairman of the neighborhood board's transportation committee, said some board members are concerned whether the project will slow traffic too much.
A roundabout directs traffic around a raised island in a counterclockwise direction. Drivers leave the circle by turning right onto the street they choose. Traffic slows but doesn't stop because no left turns are possible.
"The roundabout will turn that section of Ala Napunani into a single-lane road, where right now we have four lanes," Shima said. "Some of us are worried that the roundabout will create a backlog of traffic along Ala Napunani and Salt Lake Boulevard."
• What: Aliamanu-Salt Lake-Foster Village Neighborhood Board meeting. • When: 7 p.m. Thursday • Where: Aliamanu Intermediate School, 3271 Salt Lake Blvd.
But city transportation officials said they can use temporary materials to provide a test-run of the traffic safety configuration to see if it is successful.
Public meeting
"If that's the board's concern, we've ordered material that we can reconfigure for various traffic-calming devices," said city transportation director Cheryl Soon. "We can test the concept to see if it works, but we believe traffic-calming is what's needed for that area."
The city has already finished design work for the roundabout and the project was put out to bid in February. The traffic-calming device would be similar to the permanent $250,000 roundabout at the intersection of Likini and Ala Lilikoi streets.
The city approached Salt Lake and other O'ahu communities in 2000 on whether they were interested in placing roundabouts and other traffic-calming measures in neighborhoods dealing with speeding motorists. Community leaders wanted a roundabout placed along Ala Napunani near Moanalua High, because students tend to cross the four-lane street.
Shima said he prefers that the city install a traffic signal at Ala Napunani and Ala Ilima streets — one block from where the roundabout is planned — where Shima said he believes students tend to cross the street more. But Soon said that proposal would place two traffic signals, the other already along Salt Lake Boulevard, only 100 feet apart.
Along with the roundabout, Soon said the curbs at the intersection of Ala Napunani and Ala Ilima streets will be extended into the street. Engineers said they believe that will improve visibility for pedestrians and motorists, and shorten the distance pedestrians need to cross the street.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at 535-2429 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
