Kona tries to untangle its traffic

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Years ago, Kona residents used to boast that slow was the only way to go. These days, though, no one is bragging about the slow-moving, bumper-to-bumper traffic that makes West Hawai'i roads among the most congested in the state.

"Traffic is horrible. It's outrageously bad. It backs up for miles," said Ann Peterson, chairwoman of the Kona Traffic Safety Committee.

Help is on the way. State and county officials say at least eight major highway projects are under construction or in the planning stages to help alleviate the congestion, which sometimes stretches all the way from Keahole Airport to Captain Cook, almost 20 miles.

"All of a sudden things are happening," said Marnie Herkes, executive director of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce. "There's been a tremendous amount of growth in the last 40 years and the county has lagged behind. Now, it looks like they're finally trying to catch up with it."

The sudden movement is the result of old and new projects coming on line at roughly the same time, said Peter Young, the county's deputy managing director for West Hawai'i.

Some projects, such as the Parkway, have been talked about since the late 1950s; others (including a fledgling Big Island bus system) are brand-new attempts to address traffic problems that have been piling up since the first automobile arrived in Kailua, Kona in 1903.

Highway projects that will move forward in the coming year include:

• Mamalahoa Highway bypass. Developers of the Hokulia housing project are building a bypass road from the Napo'opo'o Junction to Keauhou at their own expense. It's expected to be finished in about five years.
• The Parkway (also known as the Ali'i Highway). On some county plans since the late 1950s, this $30 million new road will run roughly parallel with Ali'i Drive from Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway to the Keauhou Shopping Center. It includes a single automobile lane in each direction, bicycle lanes on either side, pedestrian sidewalks and landscaping. Construction is expected to start early next year.
• Lako Street makai extension. This project is designed to provide a new mauka-makai access route from the coastal Ali'i Drive to Kuakini Highway. The county-funded project will provide an additional escape route for residents in the event of a tsunami threat.
• Lako Street mauka extension. Developers of the Kona Vista subdivision are funding an extension of Lako street that will link Kuakini Highway with Hualalai Road. Plans are under review by county officials.
• Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway improvements. For the first time since it was built in the early 1970s, this highway will be widened to four lanes and repaved. Other improvements, including designated turn areas and pedestrian walkways, also are planned. Work is scheduled to begin early next year.
• Kuakini Highway. County officials plan to widen the road to two lanes of traffic in each direction and synchronize the traffic signals along its route. Work is scheduled to start in 2004.
• Mamalahoa Highway. The county is considering quick, inexpensive solutions to the traffic problems on the upper road through mauka Kona, including removing several left turns that tend to back up traffic.
• Keahole to Honaunau regional circulation study. This years-long study would look at all traffic problems throughout North and South Kona and propose solutions to accommodate continued expected growth in the area. Among the items being considered are an all-new north-south road and the location of several more mauka-makai roads.

Previous attempts to address the traffic problem in North and South Kona have been frustrated, in part, by the rugged topography of the area that grew up on old volcano flows, and by the rural population, which tends to be strung out for miles along a few main roads.

Despite the wide-open feel of North and South Kona, options for new roadways are limited, Young said.

"It's not like other communities where there are a lot of choices," he said. "We have a lot of slopes that make building roads very difficult. When you start looking at a map, the options really start narrowing down."

Not everyone is happy with the choices that have been made. Many residents say that instead of building more and bigger highways that will encourage more sprawl and traffic, the county should be considering alternatives, including everything from legalized hitchhiking to an around-the-island rail system.

"We probably could build one big 44-lane freeway to accommodate everyone, but nobody wants that," Herkes said. "Part of the challenge is finding ways to accommodate all the cars while keeping Kona a very attractive place."

Peterson, who never owned a car until she moved to West Hawai'i nine years ago, said the county needs to be thinking both big and small.

"I'm not sure we need more highways. Maybe we just need more effective highways, We need more van pools, buses. We should be setting aside the land now for a rail system that goes around the island. We don't need it yet, but we are going to get there pretty soon."

Young said county officials are already starting to think along those lines.

One plan calls for an Internet-based super shuttle, in which residents could make reservations for a small bus that would operate on a different, customized route each day. Another effort calls for more private bus shuttles that can take hotel employees from one side of the island to the other and back again.

The county also is slowly increasing its own Hele-on public bus service. Just this month, the service began a new route that will go between the Ocean View subdivision near South Point and the Keahole Airport. The bus leaves Ocean View at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and Saturday mornings and returns each day about 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, traffic may actually get worse in North and South Kona before it gets better.

"People are going to be moving from one construction project to another," Herkes said. "We're probably in for a lot of delays."