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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, December 16, 2006

'A lot of us over here feel like we got shafted'

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By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

A decision on a mass-transit route that would bypass Kalaeloa and much of the 'Ewa plain came so late at night that many people had gone to bed.

However, 'Ewa Beach residents woke yesterday morning to the news that the chosen Farrington Highway route would leave their traffic-snarled community virtually shut out.

Under the new route, they would need to navigate the perpetually gridlocked Fort Weaver Road to H-1 Freeway, and then travel east to Pearl Highlands to reach the nearest park-and-ride location — a distance of nearly 10 miles.

"I'm mad at the City Council," snapped 'Ewa Beach resident Pat Bolo. "And the next time they run for office, we will not campaign for them anymore."

KALAELOA ROUTE

Bolo said he, his family and his friends favored a route through Kalaeloa. That way, 'Ewa Beach commuters could have avoided most of Fort Weaver Road and reached the nearest park-and-ride location 3 1/2 miles from the 'Ewa Beach Shopping Center.

Bolo said he, like most others in his neighborhood, favored a rail-transit proposal in general, and the Kalaeloa route in particular because it offered them an alternative way in and out of their community.

Now, he said, 'Ewa Beach has been excluded.

'Ewa Neighborhood Board treasurer Jim Moylan said he was stunned when he heard the council's transportation committee recommended a route that would run parallel to Farrington Highway and leave out his community.

"It's unbelievable," Moylan said. "I can't figure out what kind of reasoning they used. Our future growth plans for the 'Ewa Plain are humongous."

With plans for up to 20,000 new homes in the area plus government, education and retail centers, Moylan said he's miffed about the council's decision.

"I'm making it a point to get down there to next Friday's hearing and air my lungs out," he said. "I'm going to take a deep breath and let 'em have it."

'THE GRINCH CAME'

Said state Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-43rd ('Ewa Beach, Pu'uloa, Iroquois Point): "The Grinch came to 'Ewa Beach for Christmas.

"Each person in 'Ewa Beach is going to pay $6,000 in taxes for a transit system that isn't going to help us. And we're the ones who have the worst traffic on the whole island.

"A lot of us over here feel like we got shafted."

Mike Jones, president of D.R. Horton's local Schuler Division, said he also was surprised by the council's route choice. The company had favored the longer Kalaeloa route, although he said choosing the Farrington route would have no effect on the company's plans to develop its 12,000-home Ho'opili project on the 'Ewa plain.

"From a whole community aspect, we all felt that that (Kalaeloa) was the best way to go," Jones said. "Growth on the island is obviously going to be centered on the 'Ewa Plain. And for growth to occur and to be fair to everybody out there, the transportation structure needs to address their needs.

"I think a lot of people out there were shocked that the Farrington route was selected."

NO HELP FOR KAPOLEI

One person who was angered was Maeda Timson, chairwoman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Hono-kai Hale Neighborhood Board. Timson had complained in the past that unless something is done to alleviate traffic congestion in 'Ewa Beach, Kapolei's own traffic nightmares would only be compounded.

Why? Because to avoid the Fort Weaver Road mess, many 'Ewa Beach motorists drive to Kapolei to access H-1 Freeway.

"I thought the council had a transit vision," Timson said. "Instead they have a tunnel vision. They chose the route that was the cheapest, not the route that was the best. Who's going to use this?"

She predicted the Farrington route would actually cost more money in the long run because government would eventually have to correct its mistake and build the Kalaeloa route anyway.

"People forget that it was the city and state that designated the whole 'Ewa plain and Kapolei as the Second City," she said. "We didn't ask for that designation. And they approved all the different development plans that have been in existence for the past 15 years."

The transit route decision only underscores that government has failed to do its job when it comes to meeting the requirements of what it created in Leeward O'ahu, she said.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.