Old-style street lights brighten Kalihi stretch
By James Gonser
Urban Honolulu Writer
Recently installed street lights, wider sidewalks and improved landscaping along North King Street in Kalihi are the product of the area's vision team and part of the continuing effort to make Kalihi a better place to live.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The $1 million beautification project stretches along a 1,500-foot section of King Street between Desha and Austin lanes and is the first of three phases to improve the road from Liliha to Middle streets.
Phase one of the $1 million beautification project on North King Street in Kalihi has been completed. Improvements to the stretch between Desha and Austin lanes include old-fashioned street lights, wider sidewalks and newly-planted trees.
John Dell, chairman of the Kalihi-Palama Vision Team, said the old-fashioned street lights are reminiscent of the days of Hawaiian royalty.
"What you are seeing now is the reclaiming of the historical value for the area," Dell said. "Street lights in those days were formed like two hands in the air and gave better light at night. We are getting some good reports from the churches and people on the street because they say it is much brighter."
And safer.
Kalihi is still recovering from years of criminal activity that made the streets unsafe for years, according to Assistant Police Chief Stephen Watarai.
"We had a problem with drug dealing right on the streets, right in plain view," Watarai said. "People would drive to Kalihi from all over the Island."
In August 1998, the area encompassing Downtown, Chinatown, 'A'ala Park and Kalihi-Palama was designated a part of the federal Weed & Seed program. Sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department, Weed & Seed is a joint law-enforcement effort among federal, state and city authorities to reclaim dangerous neighborhoods by working to prevent crime.
"Pua Lane was the first Weed & Seed operation," said Watarai, the Kalihi police commander at the time. "The kids walking to school used to weave their way between drug dealers and there would be needles on the ground."
Under Weed & Seed, "crime went down 65 to 70 percent," he said. "People now feel safe."
Cyrus Tamashiro of Tamashiro's Market said the King Street project is a continuation of making Kalihi a better place to live.
"With Weed & Seed helping to remove all the drug activity, we have seen such great improvement," he said. "Now, the beautification project has made the area safer, more useful and more attractive."
The brighter lights adds to people's comfort level walking on the street at night, he said.
Dell said the sidewalks, which were narrow and in poor condition, have been widened and altered to conform with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act allowing wheelchair access. Trees have been planted alongside the walkway.
"We've reclaimed the sidewalks, making them more functional," Dell said. "We had a contractor go in there, re-evaluate and assess the sidewalks and put them in a position where everyone can use them."
This first phase cost a little more than $1 million, and the second phase, expected to begin in April, will run from Gulick Avenue to the Kalihi Shopping Center and cost about the same.
The final phase will be from Liliha Street to Desha Lane and Morris Lane to Austin Lane.
Some sections of the road will not be improved where conditions are already adequate or work is not feasible.
