Waimanalo residents request bypass road

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

WAIMANALO — As the state proceeds to plan highway improvements in Waimanalo, residents are calling for a bypass road that would get commuters through the community quickly.

The daily congestion in Waimanalo during peak travel times is comparable to that in other communities. But on weekends, when most areas experience lighter traffic, Waimanalo still deals with heavy traffic and speeders as people flock to the community or through it to get to beaches and other popular areas beyond it.

A highway project to improve the road and safety in the community attempts to address the issue, but residents attending a public information meeting yesterday at Waimanalo library said a bypass road is still necessary along with the improvements.

"We need to get cars out of Waimanalo," said Milton Gouvea, who was one of many Waimanalo residents at the meeting calling for a bypass road. "It works at Hale'iwa. Why can't it work in Waimanalo?"

The state Department of Transportation proposed a bypass road, but the community opposed it in 1998 along with a proposal to widen Kalaniana'ole Highway, the main road through Waimanalo town, from two lanes to four. Instead, the community asked that the highway be made safer for pedestrians and traffic.

Scot Urada, highway project manager, yesterday outlined the proposals to make the area safer, based on suggestions made at three previous community meetings. Urada said he hopes to present one last plan to the community within two months and send all that information to a consultant who would design the project.

"I just want to make it clear that this is not a road-widening project," Urada said. "There's been a lot of misconceptions. This is a safety and improvement project."

The Waimanalo Highway Improvements/Olomana Golf Course to Waimanalo Beach Park plan calls for seven additional left-turn lanes between Olomana Golf Course and Ehukai Street at major intersections along the highway. To do this the state would create a center lane through the improvement area. Five-foot-wide asphalt pedestrian paths would be built where there are no sidewalks. In some areas, such as along the polo field, the state would also add a 4-foot-wide grass strip for horseback riders.

The improvements would all be contained within the state's 50-foot roadway easement, Urada said, adding that, where possible, the state will build bus-stop pullouts to get buses off the road when taking on or letting off passengers. In some cases the bus stops may be moved.

Residents offered several suggestions, including landscaping the center lane where no turning would take place to prevent drivers from using it as another lane, placing utility wires underground and creating safety islands in the middle of the highway so children only have to cross one lane at a time.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.