Palolo left-turn lane in works
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
The city is making safety improvements to a busy Palolo intersection known for its many traffic accidents and near-misses, including a new signal for a left-turn-only lane.
But work at the intersection of Palolo and Wai'alae avenues cannot be completed until other projects in the area that will tear up the road are finished, according to city transportation director Cheryl Soon. Then the road can be restriped and the new light turned on, she said.
Ala Moana resident Romeo Alconcel said the project needs to be completed as quickly as possible. Alconcel watched from the McDonalds restaurant on the corner last November as his 9-year-old son crossed the street after his aikido class and came within inches of being hit by a city bus.
"My son ran across the marked crosswalk and by a heartbeat just missed getting hit by the bus who didn't even brake because he was looking at oncoming cars," Alconcel said.
The distraught father wrote letters the next day to the city Department of Transportation Services, Rep. Calvin Say and Sen. Carol Fukunaga, asking them to add a left-turn arrow to the traffic signal at the awkward intersection to make crossing safer for children.
"I know it costs a lot of money to put up additional traffic lights, but one life is worth that much, don't you think?" he said in the letter.
Alconcel no longer allows his children, now 10 and 13 years old, to cross the road alone.
Soon said the city agrees with his concerns and the left-turn signal will be activated as quickly as possible.
"I get lots of letters about this intersection," Soon said. "I think this will be a major improvement."
Soon said the $115,000 project to improve the intersection includes the traffic signal, a left-turn-only lane and wheelchair-accessible curbs.
The intersection is considered dangerous because drivers on Wai'alae must turn left across two oncoming lanes at an angle and cross the crosswalk while pedestrians have the walk signal.
Cars turning right from Palolo Avenue onto Wai'alae can make the turn on the red light after stopping, but must look back at an angle over their left shoulder to see oncoming traffic, again through the crosswalk.
According to police there were eight traffic accidents at the intersection from January to June last year, three of them classified as major accidents.
The traffic light is in place, but must wait until the road is restriped to be turned on. And that has to wait until a separate city repaving project and trench work by the Board of Water Supply are done. Soon said the coordination is complicated, and she couldn't say exactly when those projects will be completed.
In the meantime, the hazards remain.
"Drivers are so focused looking up when turning left to see if cars are coming down, there could be somebody in the crosswalk," said Darlene Nakayama, chairwoman of the Palolo Neighborhood Board. "That intersection has always been a problem. I'm not sure of the number of accidents, but that one incident spurred this whole traffic signal thing."
The board voted to support the project to make the intersection safer, Nakayama said, but there are concerns that a dedicated left turn lane will slow traffic during rush hour.
"It's a busy intersection," said Ross Kirakawa, manager of the Union 76 gas station at the corner. "There are a lot of fender benders and accidents."
Kirakawa said most of the accidents he sees involve drivers coming out of the valley, looking left and turning right, then hitting the car in front of them.
"People don't want to sit there and wait for the green when they can turn on the red, too," he said. "People are so impatient nowadays."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
