By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Today I wish to declare my firm support of Dolores Mollring's one-woman crusade to save the crosswalk on King Street leading from First Hawaiian Bank to Tamarind Park. Never underestimate the power of a woman.

Her battle against insurmountable odds reminds me of the Save Diamond Head campaign in the 1960s. For years hotels kept creeping up Waikiki Beach closer to Diamond Head. City councilmen always bowed to the inevitable and granted a variance to the developer because you can't stop progress.

A group of well-known financiers announced that they were going to develop the foot of Diamond Head itself. A few feeble voices rose in protest. Then an incredible thing happened. People rose up as if a rubber band had snapped. They swamped the hearing to testify against the project. Civic associations took a stand. The development never engulfed Diamond Head.

Now there's a lone woman trying to stop the irresistible tide of automobiles taking over the city. It's ironic that she is part of the solution and the traffic engineers are part of the problem. The problem is too many cars in downtown Honolulu.

This brilliant traffic solution is to take away the crosswalk to make it easier for cars to make a left turn onto King Street. At the same time, the people who have parked their cars to relieve traffic congestion have to walk at least three times as far to get where they are going. That makes sense only to somebody too lazy to walk. Make it easier for cars and you get more.

I admit that one crosswalk won't solve our traffic woes. But saving it is a step in the path toward a solution. Eliminate the crosswalk and we keep sliding down the slope that is causing our traffic problem in the first place: too many cars.

Let's talk about problems and solutions for a minute. I am 81 years old. I don't take medication. I can't remember when I didn't go to work because I was sick. One reason is that I never take my car if I'm going somewhere within a mile of The Advertiser.

I walk. It's faster and less bother than trying to find a parking space. Honolulu is a beautiful city that I can enjoy better when I walk. It's a chance to talk to people. And I feel better. How many of our problems does that solve? How many of our problems are caused by being a slave to the automobile?

So I support Dolores Mollring because she represents a small solution to the traffic problem instead of adding to it. Yesterday she took a petition with 1,300 signatures to the mayor asking him to save the crosswalk. If a 69-year-old woman can get around town on foot, why can't you?

Instead of eliminating crosswalks, we should be figuring out ways to get cars out of downtown, how to get people to drive around the city instead of through it, how to encourage people to park and walk. Who knows, maybe one woman can stop the tide and start it running the other way.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.