Queen Street paving Kaka'ako's future
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
It's less than a quarter-mile long, but planners are expecting big things from a new stretch of Queen Street set to open to traffic next month.
The new roadway between Kamake'e and Waimanu streets is designed to play a key role in a rapidly growing part of Kaka'ako once considered the most undervalued piece of real estate in the state.
"It's not just about the street. It's setting the stage for a lot of other things that are in the works or planned," said Dan Dinell, executive director of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, the agency in charge of Kaka'ako redevelopment.
On its own, the Queen Street extension is exceptional.
It's one of only a handful of new streets built in urban Honolulu in recent years, with a $7.5 million price tag that includes a 76-foot right-of-way and two pocket parks planned for the area, where residential and commercial developments are exploding.
When opened, the Queen Street extension will provide the first direct auto and pedestrian link between two of the city's biggest commercial complexes, Ala Moana and the Victoria Ward retail centers.
Until now, moving between the shopping areas meant using busy Ala Moana or Kapi'olani boulevards, or slipping through a rabbit warren of bumpy neighborhood streets.
Planners and residents see the new Queen Street as another leap for the former light-industrial area that is striving to become Honolulu's first "urban village."
"There's so much going on in Kaka'ako right now, and there's a lot more coming," said John Breinich, chairman of the Ala Moana/Kaka'ako Neighborhood Board. "We've been hearing these plans for so many years, and now it seems like things are finally happening."
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Infrastructure improvements are a big part of Kaka'ako growth, officials said. They cite the opening last year of Ilalo Street in the district's mauka section with development of the new University of Hawai'i Medical School, and an earlier straightening of a short stretch of Kamake'e Street to pave the way for the Victoria Ward entertainment complex.
The Queen Street extension, one of the few new streets built in urban Honolulu, will open next month.
Next for the area is a $6.5 million project to widen and improve utilities on Queen Street between Ward Avenue and Kamake'e Street, expected to be completed in late 2006.
Plans to develop two pocket parks along the just-completed section of Queen Street will be delayed several years to allow a staging ground for the next Queen Street project, Dinell said.
Ultimately, Queen Street will be widened and improved to downtown Honolulu, creating a third major arterial link, Breinich said. The city also plans to run the first leg of its Bus Rapid Transit system along Auahi Street, in the heart of Kaka'ako.
For now, the newly created full intersection at Kamake'e and Queen streets will have a four-way stop to control growing traffic in the area. Ultimately, the neighborhood board wants to see a traffic signal installed there, Breinich said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com
Correction: Waimanu was misspelled in a previous version of this story.
