By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Kalakaua Avenue shorn of tour buses. The Ala Wai Canal lined with water taxis and tour boats. Kuhio Avenue filled with open-air markets and cafés.

All those ideas and more will be on the table today when city officials unwrap their proposals for revamping transportation patterns in Waikiki.

The proposals are the result of a federally financed, yearlong "Waikiki Livable Community Project" designed to improve the area, which is home to 20,000 residents, 65,000 tourists and untold numbers of cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, mo-peds, trolleys, taxis, pedicabs, skateboards and other forms of transportation.

"The underlying assumption is that better transportation is fundamental to improving the quality of life," Soon said.

Although the city has sought input from dozens of businesses and community groups, today's workshop will be the first chance for the general public to weigh in on the proposals, which emphasize public transportation and pedestrian rights.

"We're not just talking about putting in a few more sidewalks or planters," said Barbara Kim Stanton, head of the city's Office of Waikiki Development. "We're really thinking big."

• Transforming Kalakaua into one of the world's great boulevards, filled with pedestrians and parades and largely stripped of tour buses and delivery trucks.

Tour buses might be limited to the fringe of Waikiki with small vans shuttling customers to and from hotels. Delivery trucks could be confined to central staging areas, while actual deliveries are made by small cart or hand trucks.

• Designating Kuhio Avenue as Waikiki's Main Street. "Kuhio could be a place where resort and residential parts of Waikiki, in open-air markets or cafés," Stanton said.

• Filling the Ala Wai Canal and other Waikiki waters with gondolas, outrigger canoes, boat rentals, shuttle boats and water taxis. The current dredging of the canal was a necessary precursor to such improvements, Stanton said.

Nearby, Ala Wai Boulevard might be a staging area for water and cultural recreation, with one lane of traffic reclaimed to widen and transform an existing sidewalk into a pedestrian mall and meandering, landscaped bike path.

• Creating a boardwalk or hardened walkway along the beach stretching from Kapi'olani Park to Ala Moana Park.

The proposals supplement the city's already planned Bus Rapid Transit system, which will use dedicated lanes for buses running every two to four minutes through town.

Those plans, however, have drawn some protests from some Waikiki residents and others who fear the buses will add to traffic congestion.

City officials say they'll use input from today's workshop to refine their plans and develop a list of projects and initiatives that could be paid for and implemented in the future.

"All we ask is that people come with an open mind," Soon said. "This isn't the time to be worrying about their own parking space or street. This is a time to think big."

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.