Kaluanui Road wall repairs sought
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
HAWAI'I KAI — Three months after a police car smashed into a lava rock wall on Kaluanui Road, the hole is still there and residents fear that another accident could send a vehicle careening through the barrier and off the adjoining steep incline.
They also are concerned that a pedestrian could fall down the cliff.
The 2-foot-high wall is all that separates cars and pedestrians from the dropoff at a hairpin turn on the steep, winding road. Nearly a dozen accidents have occurred since 1999 at the same spot as the police car crash in February. Most involved cars crashing into the retaining wall.
Morton Cotlar, president of the Mariner's Ridge Maintenance Association, which oversees open spaces along the ridge community, said he has repeatedly tried to call attention to what he sees as a dangerous situation.
"There's a big gap in the wall with a steep drop," Cotlar said. "Clearly it is only a matter of time before there are personal injuries and fatalities, attributable to drivers at safe speeds losing control because of the seriously flawed roadway."
The hole remains because the landowner Schuler Homes and the Mariner's Ridge Maintenance Association can't determine who is responsible for the maintenance.
Mike Jones, Schuler Homes Hawai'i president, said talks have begun over responsibility for the wall and its maintenance. Before Schuler, Kamehameha Schools owned the land and the association maintained the wall, Jones said.
"Obviously the wall and the irrigation system were there long before we purchased the property," Jones said. "We are working out a good solution of who should take responsibility."
Until that's resolved, the hole in the will remain.
The city is also involved because a police vehicle caused the damage, but a claim must be submitted before the city will consider paying for repairs, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
Safety has long been an issue on Kaluanui Road. More than two years ago Mariner's Ridge residents tried to get the city to improve safety along the steep, winding drive where speeding has been a problem. Then-City Councilman John Henry Felix included $50,000 in the budget to study alternatives.
The review determined that the right of way along the road is insufficient to repair the hairpin turn where most of the accidents are occurring, including the one involving the police car, Costa said.
And a plan proposed by the city that included traffic-calming devices, adding signs and banking two curves along the road, were rejected by a handful of residents at a community meeting two years ago, Costa said.
Residents just want the hole repaired quickly.
"It's a dangerous road," said Tai Hong, a Mariner's Ridge resident.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
