Posted on: Saturday, July 24, 2004
Study of new 'Ewa road finds no big impact
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A draft environmental study has determined that a long-anticipated North-South reliever road in 'Ewa will have no significant impacts in the area.
The public has until Aug. 23 to comment on the draft assessment. If there are no major challenges to the report, a final environmental assessment will be issued.
Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the first phase would include three of six lanes and take two years to complete. Ground could be broken as early as the end of the year, he said.
The draft assessment updates a report that was released in September 1998. The study had to be revised after the red 'ilima, an endangered plant species, was found on the route of the proposed roadway.
The matter wasn't resolved until March 2004, when a habitat conservation plan was approved and the project was cleared to proceed.
From 1990 to 2000, the 'Ewa Beach-'Ewa population increased 131 percent to 22,236, according to the 2000 Census. Developers are continuing to target the area for growth, but the community still has just one major access — the four-lane Fort Weaver Road.
'Ewa residents, as well as people who live in Makakilo, have been arguing for a reliever road for years. But several problems, including the red 'ilima and the design of an adequate drainage plan delayed the project.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
The draft environmental assessment was released this week on the proposed $120 million road, which would run from Kapolei to the H-1 Freeway. The 2.5-mile North-South Road is expected to provide an alternative to Fort Weaver Road, now the only thoroughfare that leads out of the growing 'Ewa area.
