Plans to improve crosswalks at the state's most dangerous intersections could be shelved this year because while the governor and the Legislature agree they are important, they appear unwilling to compromise on the funding source.

To AARP, which lobbied hard for the pedestrian safety bill throughout the session, this last-minute snag comes as a shock.

First the bill Gov. Linda Lingle had testified in support of ended up on her potential veto list. Then on Thursday, she asked the Legislature to make changes so she could sign the bill into law.

The issue is whether to pay for the $3 million in improvements out of the general fund — as the Lingle has requested — or the highway fund, which the Legislature prefers.

Compromise at this point seems unlikely, which has AARP worried that at least one more year will go by before the state and counties are able to make the streets safer for the elderly and other vulnerable people to cross.

"It's kind of a political power play," said Bruce Bottorff, a spokesman for AARP Hawai'i. "The governor is going to do this. The Legislature says it's going to do that. The public could end up being the losers if they don't get the pedestrian safety improvements we need to make the community safe."

Crosswalk improvements were a big issue during the legislative session, in part because the first part of the year saw a significant spike in pedestrian fatalities.

The crosswalk improvements include longer walk signals, countdown timers and enhanced visibility.

"There is nothing legally or technically flawed or invalid about it," Bottorff said.

According to the governor's press secretary Russell Pang, AARP was informed yesterday that if the law that passes uses the highway fund, the crosswalk improvements will have to compete with other highway projects such as highway and bridge repairs.

But House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell said there is no guarantee that the governor would release money even if the Legislature agreed to her amendments. "That's the power of the purse strings," he said.

As for the funding source, Caldwell said the highway fund has adequate unencumbered funds to cover the crosswalk improvements. "Why shouldn't we use the money that's there?" he asked.

To Bottorff, where the money comes from is less important than making sure it's available.

"We worked so hard on this. All it takes is a swipe of a pen to make immediate safety improvements," he said. "How this is resolved is less of an issue than that it must be resolved now because we're talking about lives rather than continued highway improvements.

"Lives against roads is what it comes down to, really."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.