Kalanianaole Highway Traffic and Safety Renovation

Traffic. It’s been a problem going between Kailua and Waimanalo for years, and the community has spent the last decade working with the state on a plan to deal with the situation. For the past few years, I have stressed to my colleagues the importance of setting aside funding for this project. In the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions, we secured $16,250,000 to finally begin construction on the new improvements for Kalanianaole Highway that will help ease traffic and improve safety.

The new improvements will include left turn lanes and bus pullouts to reduce stoppage on the highway and make it easier to turn onto side streets. Landscaped medians and new guard rails will help prevent accidents, and new sidewalks and crosswalks will help keep students, seniors and other pedestrians safer.

• Phase One of the project will begin from Olomana Golf Course to Poalima Street (2013 to 2014)
• Phase Two will carry on from Poalima Street to Aloiloi Street (2014 to 2015)
• Phase Three will conclude with improvements continuing from Aloiloi Street to Waimanalo Beach Park (2015)

  I’m glad to see our community get this long-overdue project started. I hope it will provide quicker, safer commutes between Kailua and Waimanalo without the need to expand to a four lane highway. I look forward to keeping you updated with more details of each phase as construction proceeds.

  New State-of-the-art Highway Crosswalks

  After a number of close calls at our crosswalks fronting Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School and the Kupuna Housing near Nakini Street, I specifically set aside $300,000 for crosswalk improvements. This should give the State Department of Transportation the funding to experiment with modern crosswalk technology, such as in-ground lights and new ways to make crosswalks more easily visible to approaching cars.

  Nakini Street Guardrail

  

  After three separate car crashes, a guardrail will finally be installed to protect the families on Nakini Street. “We live right on the corner, and cars crash around here all the time,” said Sherrine Kanahele. “A real guardrail will help keep our kids safe the next time a drunk driver crashes into our yard.” For too long the City and the State have been going back and forth about who would pay for the guardrail to protect the homes at the corner of Nakini Street and Kalanianaole Highway. To end this debate, this year I asked that $40,000 be set aside in the state budget to build the much-needed guardrail.

  The Department of Transportation will install the new guardrail as soon as the Governor approves our $40,000 appropriation. In the meantime, if you live along Kalanianaole Highway and think your family might need better protection, please do not hesitate to call me.