Posted on: Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Board says save Ala Wai parking

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The greening of Waikiki is an admirable goal, except when the city plans to put the trees and grass into 70 on-street parking stalls along the Ala Wai canal, the Waikiki Neighborhood Board decided last night.

The board told Eric Crispin, city director for the Department of Planning and Permitting, that a beautification program for Ala Wai Boulevard, scheduled to begin next month, should be modified to preserve the mauka lane for parking and biking, but not trees.

Crispin said that "all but 20 or 30" of the lost parking stalls would be made up for in the city's plan for a parking lot at Aloha Drive and Seaside Avenue, but Waikiki residents said that would still be too big a loss.

"I've surveyed residents time and time again about this," said Rep. Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako). "They want all the parking spaces they can get."

Crispin outlined the plan for the Ala Wai construction project during a board meeting at the Waikiki Community Center. Hostility toward the project was running so high before his presentation that he jokingly referred to it as "the lynching that is to come."

William Wanner of M&E Pacific Engineers, construction manager for the project, said that in addition to widening the fourth lane to allow for a bicycle lane between the parking area and third lane of traffic, the plan included construction of 21 "bulb outs" — green areas up to 120 feet long that would extend 7 feet into the parking lane.

Residents spoke in favor of the bike lane and encouraged the planting of trees along the canal, as long the bulb outs were eliminated.

"Take this to the city," board chairmen Robert Finley told Crispin as the meeting ended. "Take out the bulb outs."

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.