There's a protest afoot against closing crosswalk
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A one-woman protest is alerting pedestrians that they may soon lose one of downtown's busiest crosswalks as part of a city plan to rework traffic patterns.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Downtown resident Dolores Mollring, 69, has been wearing a placard that reads "save this crosswalk" near the diamondhead-side crosswalk at Bishop and King streets between Tamarind Park and First Hawaiian Bank.
Dolores Mollring says a plan to save drivers about 25 seconds will force pedestrians to take 3 minutes crossing streets three times.
"I'm just tired of pedestrians not being thought of as important," Mollring said. "If they know there are a lot of pedestrians and a lot of cars, wouldn't safety be a top consideration? Pedestrians have rights, too."
Mollring, a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said getting rid of the crosswalk will save about 25 seconds for drivers turning left from Bishop to King Street but will force pedestrians to cross the streets three times to get from the bank to the park. That could take at least three minutes, she said.
Brian Hart works downtown and uses the Bishop Street crosswalk regularly. Hart said if the crosswalk is removed, more people will simply jaywalk —which would a dangerous situation.
"This is the most important intersection downtown and someone is going to get killed if there is no crosswalk," Hart said.
The city also wants to eliminate the crosswalk at Punchbowl and King streets, between Honolulu Hale and Kawaiaha'o Church, to help drivers move through the area more quickly.
Ed Hirata, director of the city Department of Transportation Services, will make a recommendation to the mayor, who will make the final decision to eliminate one or both crosswalks or neither.
City spokesman Bill Brennan said removing the crosswalks would be an inexpensive way to make driving into downtown faster without causing much of a problem for pedestrians.
A recent city study shows that: At the intersection of Bishop and King streets, an average of 612 vehicles an hour make a left turn but wait 25 seconds longer for the green arrow when a pedestrian pushes the crossing button to use the crosswalk between First Hawaiian Bank and Tamarind Park. An average of 1,448 people cross the street per hour and 304 of them (21 percent) use the crosswalk. At Punchbowl and King streets, an average of 620 vehicles per hour make a left turn but wait 27 seconds longer for the green arrow when a pedestrian pushes the crossing button for the crosswalk between Honolulu Hale and Kawaiaha'o Church. An average of 346 pedestrians cross the street per hour, but only 28 (8 percent) use the crosswalk between the church and City Hall.
"We are not discouraging pedestrians," Brennan said. "The idea is to keep traffic flowing as it gets off the H-1 either at Pali (Highway) or Vineyard (Boulevard)."
Crosswalk use vs. Traffic flow
At both Bishop Street and Punchbowl, traffic turning left must wait if a pedestrian pushes the crossing button, but the wait also slows traffic moving through the area, Brennan said. Pedestrians can choose to cross King Street at Alakea Street rather than crossing three times at Bishop and King, he said.
Brennan said that if crosswalks are eliminated, signs prohibiting pedestrian crossing will be posted.
Brennan said a recent study of the number of pedestrians and vehicles at both intersections shows that the project is feasible without inconveniencing walkers too much.
Jennifer Joseph, manager at the Honolulu Coffee Company in the Pacific Tower directly across from First Hawaiian Bank, said some customers may go elsewhere for their coffee and sandwiches if the street is more difficult to cross.
"Convenience and good coffee go together," Joseph said.
Hirata gave a presentation about proposed pedestrian and traffic changes to the Downtown Neighborhood Board last week. The board voted against the proposal at Bishop and King streets, but Mollring is worried that the vote was not enough to stop the project.
She said she has easily collected hundreds of signatures that she plans to present to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
"I've talked to hundreds of people and there hasn't been anyone in support of eliminating the crosswalk," said Mollring.
First Hawaiian Bank spokesman Gerry Keir said the bank is talking to the city about the proposed changes.
"We would hope any solution would be convenient for our bank customers and employees and would keep safety in mind as the No. 1 priority for both drivers and pedestrians," Keir said.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
• • •
