State to tackle Kaua'i congestion
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — State officials are looking for ways to improve the most congested stretch of asphalt on the island: Kuhio Highway from Hanama'ulu to Kapa'a.
Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser
An environmental assessment for the Kapa'a relief route says a series of improvements is likely to be the most promising solution to congestion in the region. These include widening parts of the highway, a bypass road along part of the alignment and connections between the existing highway and the bypass.
The state Department of Transportation is seeking alternatives to relieve traffic on the heavily used Kuhio Highway between Hanama'ulu and Kapa'a. Virtually all the traffic must cross this intersection at Kuhio and Hale'ilio.
Copies of the environmental assessment for the opening stage of planning are available at public libraries on Kaua'i. Over the anticipated three-year planning process, the Department of Transportation expects to have at least two public informational meetings and one public hearing.
The traffic corridor in this region carries people between the island's economic center in Lihu'e and the suburbs of Wailua and Kapa'a. Earlier planning efforts considered a range of alternatives, including a new bridge across the Wailua River and several proposed alignments for bypass routes mauka of the existing coastal highway.
"Deficiencies in the roadway network were noted long ago," says a state Department of Transportation environmental impact statement preparation notice.
Temporary measures have included a bypass road on an old cane road, the use of a one-lane plantation railroad bridge across the Wailua River for northbound traffic, and weekday coning of traffic lanes to improve morning southbound traffic.
These have helped, but transportation officials say permanent solutions are needed because of the threat that tsunamis or flooding could close the coastal road for extended periods.
The state conducted extensive planning for the area during the 1990s, but stopped in 1999. It is now starting up again. An environmental study is required because virtually any change in roadway alignment is likely to have visual impacts and will affect both wetlands and archaeological sites in the area, as well as parks, residential areas and businesses.
The department says it will consider a wider range of alternatives than in planning a decade ago, in part because conditions have changed.
For information on the planning process, contact Glenn Kimura in Honolulu at 944-8848 or gkimura@kimurainternational.com.
Contact Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
