Student's death prompts study of bridge

By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer

The death of Waialua High School student Florelyn Ramos this month has prompted the state Department of Transportation to consider improvements to the Poamoho Stream Bridge.

Ramos was killed after being struck by a pick-up truck while walking on the bridge, between Thompson Corner and Weed Circle on Kaukonahua Road.

Police have indicated that poor lighting may have been a factor in the Jan. 17 accident, and a Transportation Department spokesman told the North Shore Neighborhood Board this week that improving lighting is one change the department is studying.

"We'll look at short-term solutions," Scott Ishikawa said yesterday. "We'll look at lighting, location of lighting and the quality of the lighting. If we need additional signage, we'll look at that."

Ishikawa said the department is considering short-term changes because the narrow, two-lane bridge — which does not have lighting or a walkway — is not scheduled for replacement until 2010.

Ishikawa said the bridge was built in 1934, six years before Route 930, or Kaukonahua Road, was constructed. He said the bridge had been part of a plantation road.

From 1993 to 2002, there were 69 accidents on the road, including two fatalities. However, until Ramos' death, there had been only two accidents on the bridge, neither of them fatal.

Ramos, who lived nearby, was walking to her home.

At around 9:25 p.m. she suffered head and internal injuries after she was hit by a green 1991 Nissan pick-up driven by a 35-year-old Waialua man.

She was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital, where she died.

The bridge is illuminated by a single streetlight about 50 yards away.

Police said alcohol was not a factor and that they have not determined whether the truck was speeding.

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.