Triathlon street closures revised
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The city and organizers of two triathlon events in Waikiki have scaled back plans to close many major streets — including Kalakaua Avenue — for up to 12 hours on Sunday, but will still need to shut down roadways for hours at a time.
That would mean careful planning for residents and visitors hoping to get in and out of areas along the route, particularly the so-called Gold Coast community near Diamond Head. Many residents and business were not given a traffic advisory until Wednesday and most had not seen the revised plan that was released yesterday, said Richard Berry, president of CS Apartments, which owns the Coral Strand on Kalakaua Avenue.
The city and organizers will hold a briefing for hotel, condo and apartment officials this morning.
"It would have been much better if we had a couple of weeks more notice to organize ourselves," Berry said. "This very short notice has made it very difficult for us."
The Honolulu Triathlon starts at Kapi'olani Park at 6 a.m. Sunday and will wind down Kalaniana'ole Highway to Hawai'i Kai. That event will be followed by the U.S. Olympic triathlon trials, which will run on Kalakaua Avenue through Waikiki and around Diamond Head.
Women competitors will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Queen's Surf Beach and the men will follow at 3 p.m. The finish line will be on Kalakaua just diamondhead of Monsarrat Avenue.
Race organizers on Wednesday sent an advisory to hotels, restaurants and apartments in the area, saying all lanes of Kalakaua would be closed from 5 a.m. until 5 p.m. The advisory also was confusing because there were different closure times for different streets.
Race officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. But according to the revised plan sent out by a public relations firm, no roads will be closed for 12 straight hours.
Instead, all roads leading in and out of the Gold Coast area will be closed from 5 to 8 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The roads include Kalakaua, Paki, Poni Moi Street, Diamond Head Road near Poni Moi, and Coconut Avenue at Diamond Head Road.
From 8 to 11:30 a.m., there will be access to local traffic only.
Motorists coming into Gold Coast should take Leahi Avenue to Noela Street, right on Noela, left on Paki, and right heading to the condos and hotels on Poni Moi. Coconut and Kiele avenues will be accessible.
Local traffic may proceed on Kalakaua to properties on the makai side until just past the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel driveway, where the access ends.
Limited van service will be available from across the Gold Coast hotels to a valet station at the Aston Waikiki Sunset hotel.
Berry said he hadn't seen the new plan, but said it sounded better than the original.
The afternoon competition will affect access to the Diamond Head Theatre, where the final performance of "Swing!" is set for 4 p.m. Theater officials are asking ticket holders to use Alohea Avenue to get to the back of the theater.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025.
