By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Isn't it time we gave our Hawai'i freeways some real names?

Other, lesser roads have grand names. Kamehameha and Kuhio are fine highway names. So are Likelike and Lunalilo. Even Nimitz and Farrington have a nice driving ring to them.

So why do H-1, H-2 and H-3 remain numbered and nameless? It's not like we're shy about naming (or renaming) our roads. Remember the recent controversy over the newly named Gov. John Burns tunnel on H-3, which started out just a few years earlier as the Tets Harano tunnel?

There's nothing in federal law, either, that prohibits giving a local name to an interstate.

All across the nation, federal interstate highways have been named, sometimes practically for where they go and sometimes for the politicians who made them possible.

Other places take a more practical approach. In Southern California, for instance, the roads usually are named for their destinations: Ventura Freeway, Santa Monica Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway. In the north, San Francisco has the Bayshore and East Shore freeways. Louisville, Ky., has the Riverside Parkway.

Hawai'i has no such names. Yet.

Maybe we're just waiting to honor the right individuals. There's little doubt that someday H-3 Freeway should be named for Sen. Daniel Inouye, who almost single-handedly willed it into existence when so many were against it. I've always thought H-1 Freeway should be named after Gov. George Ariyoshi; after all, who more symbolizes the years of fantastic island growth, fueled by interstate freeway money, than Ariyoshi?

Others argue that we should take a more gentle, Hawaiian-style approach. Perhaps we should call the road to Makaha the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Freeway. Sure, King Kamehameha already has a state highway, but doesn't he deserve a federal freeway, too?

Then there's the whimsical approach. What about Rainbow Freeway? Or 50th State Freeway? (Or even Hawai'i 5-0 Freeway, with the McGarrett bypass and the Jack Lord extension? Hawai'i Highway Web site guru Oscar Voss has been lobbying to name a freeway after Don Ho, instead of just the "crummy street in Waikiki" that he currently gets.)

Finally, there's the opportunity to sell a freeway name to a lucrative sponsor. Hey, it works for football stadiums, why not roadways? How about Tesoro Gas H-1? Or Mike McKenna Ford Freeway? Or Hawaiian Cement H-3?

Who knows, with the right marketing, we might even make enough money to build H-4 (Your name goes here) Freeway.

Send your freeway naming suggestions to Advertiser transportation writer Mike Leidemann by e-mail or phone (525-5460).