WAILUKU, Maui — Even if a Maui court injunction is lifted next week, allowing the Hawaii Superferry to resume sailing to Kahului Harbor, there remains a separate court order on traffic control that would present "a very big, big problem" for the ferry, said a state attorney.

The order by Maui Circuit Judge Joel August required that only two vehicles per minute to exit from the ferry site on the north end of Pu'unene Avenue, about 20 yards from one of the island's busiest intersections.

When the company's 350-foot catamaran, Alakai, came to Maui on Aug. 27 — the last time it sailed to Kahului — it took 55 minutes to get the nearly 90 disembarking vehicles onto public roads instead of the 20 minutes predicted by ferry officials.

At an informal hearing yesterday to revisit the traffic issue, Deputy Attorney General William Wynhoff said the state Department of Transportation and the Hawaii Superferry could live with other conditions set by August, which include posting staff to regulate traffic.

However, he said, the two-vehicles-per-minute rule "is clearly not doable at all" and would pose "a very big, big problem" for the company.

August said he is willing to be flexible and allow trained personnel to manage the traffic flow — as long as they aren't Hawaii Superferry employees. He said he would be "nervous" if they were, because their main concern might be "keeping customers happy" and getting passengers rolling as quickly as possible without regard to other motorists.

The judge's order will remain in effect at least until Nov. 19, when a hearing will be held to consider changes. It's not known whether the ferry will have resumed service by then. Hawaii Superferry officials said they would not comment on when the vessel might sail again.

The company is awaiting a ruling by Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza on its motion to dissolve an injunction issued Oct. 9 that halted ferry operations at Kahului until the DOT performs an environmental review of ferry-related harbor projects. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for Wednesday.

INJUNCTION IN PLACE

Although Gov. Linda Lingle and the Legislature last week passed a state law, known as Act 2, allowing the company to operate during the review, the ferry cannot relaunch until the injunction is lifted.

The case before Cardoza stems from a legal challenge of the DOT's exemption of the harbor projects from Hawai'i's environmental review law.

August's case was initiated by the Maui Tomorrow Foundation, the Kahului Harbor Coalition and Friends of Haleakala National Park, who disputed an environmental assessment of a group of projects contained in the DOT's Kahului Harbor Master Plan 2025. One of the projects already completed is a bridge over a drainage canal that will be used by vehicles going to and from the ferry.

The judge ruled in May that the assessment was inadequate with respect to potential traffic impacts.

On Aug. 23, August issued an order establishing traffic-control measures that were to be in place before the ferry's initial start date of Aug. 28. The measures included reconfiguring the Pu'unene Avenue intersection, posting police officers to direct traffic during ferry visits if needed, and making space available for ferry customers at the Kahului Airport overflow parking lot, about two miles from the harbor.

A Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling also issued Aug. 23 threw out the DOT exemption of the ferry-related harbor projects, and in anticipation of Cardoza's injunction halting ferry service, the company moved up its launch date to Aug. 26 and offered special $5 fares.

Worried the DOT would not have enough time to comply with his order on traffic mitigation, August added the two-vehicles-per-minute rule.

Wynhoff yesterday wondered whether the rule was meant as a punitive gesture, since the Hawaii Superferry "jumped the gun and we didn't stop them from jumping the gun and everyone's now unhappy that we didn't."

The judge said he meant only to prevent a "chaotic" situation.

The ferry can carry 866 passengers and 282 cars, but company officials estimate an average of 400 passengers and 110 vehicles per trip. At Kahului Harbor, 267 vehicles a day are expected to travel through the ferry site, either loading or unloading from the vessel or dropping off or picking up passengers.

TRAFFIC CONTROL

A DOT traffic impact study maintained there would be only a marginal increase in traffic on nearby streets and that no mitigation was necessary, and Wynhoff noted the reconfiguration of Pu'unene Avenue has drawn complaints from motorists.

August pointed out the restriping was recommended by the DOT's traffic expert, Dick Kaku, although Kaku's first recommendation was that nothing be done until it is determined that a traffic problem exists.

The judge and the attorneys at yesterday's hearing also said they aren't sure how Act 2 would affect the traffic-related case, since one of the conditions attached to the law requires traffic impact studies at four ports where the ferry plans to sail.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.