Road plan draws late protest

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — With the city ready to move ahead on a Wana'ao Road traffic-calming project that has been in the planning for six years, the neighborhood board and some residents affected by the plan are asking the Department of Transportation Services to delay or cancel the work.

The $217,000 project covers the area from Keolu Drive to the bridge at Papalani Street and calls for five concrete islands in the middle of the two-lane road and three bulbouts — curbs that extend into the street — narrowing the lane. Some parking will be eliminated, but 23 spaces will be available along the stretch of road, said Charles Prentiss, a Wana'ao resident involved with planning the project.

A contract has been awarded for the work, but a start date has not been set and now some people are crying foul, saying they were not aware of the project and don't want it on Wana'ao, one of the main arteries into Enchanted Lake.

Prentiss said numerous meetings were held to plan the project, and when planning was completed everyone in the neighborhood was informed about it. Because of recent objections, he said he took the project to his neighbors again.

"This is the fifth time we canvassed the neighborhood," Prentiss said. "This time we used a petition so we would have it in writing, and 70 percent of the houses we surveyed were in favor."

But Barry Wong, of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, said he has heard from at least 20 people who do not like the project, including people who do not live on Wana'ao but travel the road regularly.

Some say that they have not been informed about the project and that it takes away parking and is not attractive, Wong said. No landscaping is planned for the medians. Plus the city plans to upgrade the sewer collection system in the area in 2006, so it would be a waste of money to do the project now, he said.

"Everybody said they wanted slower traffic, but this is not the way they think it should be done," Wong said.

The Kailua Neighborhood Board voted last week to ask the city to delay the traffic-calming project until the sewer work is completed and to redesign the Wana'ao project, giving the greater community more input.

However, the city said the sewer project would likely use micro-tunneling, in which machines bore below the surface of the road. The sewer project would probably take place in 2006-07, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.

"Therefore, the traffic-calming project would not be affected," Costa said. "Department of Transportation Services is moving forward with the traffic-calming project."

The neighborhood board still hopes it can be stopped.

Malia Gray, who lives in Keolu, said she's concerned that the plan got so far without input from people who travel that street every day. Gray questioned the design, including the numerous "no parking" signs, 10-foot-wide lanes near the median and the placement of the medians.

"This impacts more than Wana'ao residents," she said. "I agree speed is a problem, but speed is a behavior problem not a design problem."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.