Posted on: Friday, April 8, 2005

Makakilo Drive changes proposed

Advertiser Staff

A number of measures are being considered to improve safety on Makakilo Drive, from changing bus stops to adding a crosswalk and even installing a pedestrian overpass.

The public is invited to discuss the subject with officials at an open meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Mauka Lani Elementary School cafeteria.

Details of the plans emerged yesterday when representatives of the Honolulu Police Department, city and state transportation departments, and other agencies and organizations met at the office of Rep. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia).

The changes came in response to the death Monday of a 15-year-old student who was hit as he crossed the road to catch a school bus near his Palehua Hale home.

Within two weeks, school buses will no longer stop on the uphill side of the road where the fatality occurred, officials said. Instead they will stop at two nearby crosswalks. Two new bus stops also will be added to the downhill side of the road.

City traffic engineer Paul Won said safety measures could include installing fluorescent green signs, putting in a mid-block crosswalk where the fatality occurred and slowing traffic at the crosswalk by narrowing the road to one lane using traffic cones.

And Won said the city will examine the possibility of installing a pedestrian overpass across Makakilo Drive. However, officials have found that people often ignore such overpasses.