No quick fixes for traffic problems

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Attention, commuters: Rod Haraga shares your pain.

"It's a big city problem," he said. "It's worse than the Santa Ana Freeway in Los Angeles."

Haraga should know. Although born in Palolo Valley and a graduate of Saint Louis School, he got his college degrees on the Mainland and spent most of his professional career as a civil engineer working in Southern California, renowned for its traffic congestion.

Now, he has been picked by Gov. Linda Lingle to run the Hawai'i department that not only has to keep more than 2,380 lane miles of state freeways and highways smooth and clear, but make sure that 15 airports and nine harbors — all the state's links to the outside world — are operated safely and efficiently as well. Haraga will oversee a department with an annual budget of more than $500 million.

He was a deputy city engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, where he gained more than 32 years of experience in design and construction management.

During that time, he helped direct programs and projects ranging from municipal buildings to sewers to roads. He also led projects for the Federal Highway Administration, including grade separation, street improvement, and seismic restoration of bridges.

Following the Northridge earthquake in 1994, which caused more than $9 billion in damage, Haraga was the city's lead negotiator with the federal government for emergency money. It was a situation he describes as a quagmire of state, county, city and federal agencies learning to work together.

"Now, I'm looking forward to seeing if all that experience can be put to work here," he said in a recent interview, just before heading into another day of getting acquainted with state lawmakers and learning the ropes around the department.

In 1998, Haraga, 59, thought he was returning home to a retired life of fishing, golfing and volunteer work in the state school system only to meet Dexter Kubota, president of KFC Engineering Management, a firm that manages many construction projects for the federal, state and city governments. The two became friends and Kubota quickly recognized Haraga's enthusiasm and communication skills and offered him a job as a project manager.

"We tried to use his experience," Kubota said. "He's been through it all and we wanted to use his skills to help mentor our employees."

Haraga has an unusual combination of technical and verbal skills that make him qualified to head a government agency that has to work equally well with contractors and commuters, architects and airlines, Kubota said.

"He's been in government and private business so he can see things from both perspectives," Kubota said. "He knows the technical side and the communication side, too."

Ross Sasamura, a past president of the American Public Works Association-Hawai'i Chapter, said Haraga brings enthusiasm about civil engineering to everything he does.

"He's been very active working with university and high-school students and talking about the profession," Sasamura said. "He's got the skills to explain to them what the field is all about, and he's got the ability to communicate the details that are important in the work."

Haraga plans to approach the state's traffic and other transportation problems one step at a time.

"We can't solve the traffic problem all at once," he said. "Small things done in strategic places can make a difference."

One place he hopes to start is in the department offices, where he's trying to instill new levels of customer service. Phone calls have to be answered within three rings and transferred only after the worker knows the right place to forward the caller.

"We need to be more service friendly," he said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.