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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Maui County plans $5 million road project

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

LAHAINA, Maui — There are three public schools above Lahaina town, a substantial residential community and only one outlet to the highway below.

Meeting tonight

• The public works department will hold an informational meeting at 6 p.m. today at the Lahaina Civic Center to talk about the proposed design of the Dickenson Street extension. Project Manager Joe Krueger said officials want to get feedback and take suggestions about other possible routes and measures to relieve traffic on Lahainaluna Road.

The county is planning a $5 million road project to respond to long-standing complaints about traffic congestion on Lahainaluna Road and concerns about the lack of an alternate route in case of emergencies.

A recent traffic study showed that 700 vehicles travel up the two-lane road during the morning rush hour and 800 vehicles exit onto Honoapi'ilani Highway.

Many of the drivers are parents dropping their children at Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate or Lahainaluna High School. The afternoon count is a little lighter — about 500 cars both ways.

Plans call for extending Dickenson Street a distance of about 4,250 feet uphill from the highway to Lahainaluna Road, said project manager Joe Krueger, who is with the county's Department of Public Works and Waste Management. The two-lane road will be built within a 60-foot right-of-way across former sugar cane fields.

The work includes concrete curbs and gutters, sidewalks, planting strips, buffers, drainage culverts and the relocation of utility poles. A short segment of Mill Street will be realigned to provide appropriate intersection spacing, and improvements will be made at new intersections to make it easier for cars to turn safely, Krueger said.

Michael Casicas, president of the Princess Nahienaena parent-teacher associate, said yesterday that an "overnight" solution would be to have Lahainaluna start classes an hour later than the other two schools, since many high school students drive to the campus. The road has been largely clear on days when only the high school is not in session due to instructional waiver days or other events, said Casicas, a retired police officer.

Planning for the Dickenson extension is still under way and the contractor has not been selected. The yearlong project is expected to begin in the spring of 2004. Money from the federal government will pay for 80 percent of the project.

The county is considering additional outlets once a bypass highway is built mauka of Honoapi'ilani Highway. Planning for that project has been discussed for more than a decade but costs — estimated at more than $100 million — have kept it from moving forward.