Waimanalo barriers boost road safety
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — More concrete barriers were installed yesterday near the entrance to Olomana Golf Links, as the state made good on a promise to speed up additional safety measures after the death of a Waimanalo man in a head-on collision in February.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The speed limit approaching the golf course entrance has also been reduced and safety dots installed.
Concrete barriers placed on Kalaniana'ole Highway near the Olomana Golf Course are a temporary solution. Community residents expressed appreciation but said they will be happy when permanent measures are in place.
Those measures are temporary solutions, though, and yesterday Department of Transportation Director Rod Haraga said a permanent solution will be designed for the stretch of Kalaniana'ole Highway.
Community residents at the construction site expressed appreciation for the state's progress but said they will be happy when permanent measures are in place.
"To get this much activity in Waimanalo is unbelievable," said Wilson Ho, chairman of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board. "We'd like more, but they are trying. In due time we'll get results."
Yesterday the state installed about 100 feet of concrete barriers and buffer barrels on the Waimanalo side of the golf course entrance, adding to 600 feet of concrete barriers already installed because of the Feb. 23 accident that killed Ramus Seabury, 62.
Officials had originally estimated that a safety study and installation of additional measures would take a year.
But the community rallied for faster action near the golf course entrance after Seabury was struck by a driver who police said fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line. Police have said that alcohol may have been a factor in the accident.
Two years ago Waimanalo resident Lorrie-Ann Wiley, 32, was killed near the same spot when a drunken driver drifted across the highway and struck her head-on.
Seabury's widow, Harriet, said if the state had acted after Wiley's death her husband would still be alive.
"He knew how dangerous this section was," she said yesterday. "Never in my wildest dream did I think he would be a victim here and become one of the statistics."
Haraga said improvements for the stretch of road from Old Kalaniana'ole Road to the golf course entrance will be included in a broader planning study for the community that calls for $38 million in safety and traffic changes.
Improvements in the vicinity of the golf course entrance will include fixing the alignment of the road and placing some kind of concrete jersey barriers in the median, he said. The project would require widening the road and reinforcing the shoulders, Haraga said.
The state also will consider straightening the road, but that would require acquiring private property, he said.
"We are very concerned about the accidents that have occurred here," he said, adding that the plan included community input. "We decided this is the best way to mediate the problem."
The DOT has also asked police to step up enforcement of speeding violations and has extended the reduced 35-mph speed limit approaching the area.
Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Portlock), noted that the proposed improvements will qualify for federal money, which he said would cover 80 percent of the cost.
But he also said people must do more to control their behavior.
"All the barriers in the world won't save the public from drunk drivers," he said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
