The state Department of Transportation wants to hear from Kaua’i bicycle riders on how to make their riding experiences safer and better on state roadways. The DOT has scheduled a meeting at the Kaua’i War Memorial Convention Hall at 6:30
The state Department of Transportation wants to hear from Kaua’i bicycle riders on how to make their riding experiences safer and better on state roadways.
The DOT has scheduled a meeting at the Kaua’i War Memorial Convention Hall at 6:30 p.m. on May 2 to gather public comments on the agency’s proposed upgrading of a statewide plan for cycling.
The meeting is part of a second round of hearings the DOT plans to hold on every island from April 29 to May 9.
A first round of meetings to begin the process of upgrading the plan was held late last year on all islands.
The DOT is proposing to upgrade the 1994 bicycle plan as part of an effort to increase the use of bicycles to reduce traffic congestion, particularly during peak commute hours, and create safer riding conditions.
People who don’t have vehicles also will be able to get around rural and urban areas by bicycle.
On Kaua’i, bicycle riders have voiced concerns about the lack of bicycle lanes and the risks of bicycle-auto collisions caused by fast-driving, inattentive drivers.
Bicycle riding is prohibited on state freeways but is allowed on other roads managed by the DOT.
The DOT is late in upgrading the plan. A consultant that helped draft the 1994 plan recommended it be upgraded within five years.
A final plan is expected to be completed by the end of the year. After the second round of meetings is completed, Kimura International Inc., a consulting firm based on O’ahu, will consider public input from the first and second round of meeting, and will prepare a preliminary draft, to which residents and government agencies can respond.
The 1994 plan proposed a maximum of 1,300 miles of new bikeways statewide at a cost of $230 million.
For Kaua’i, the 1994 plan proposed the development of 173 miles of bikeways – mostly in Lihu’e, Kapa’a, Po’ipu and Koloa – at a cost of $61 million.
DOT documents showed that there are a combined 87 miles of bikeways on O’ahu, Maui, Kaua’i and the Big Island.
O’ahu has the most with 55 miles while Kaua’i has 4 miles, mostly along the coastline in Kapa’a and Po’ipu.
John Tanner, owner of Bicycle John in Lihu’e, the oldest bicycle shop on Kaua’i, contends there are no places elsewhere on the island where residents can ride their bicycles safely.
Three years after the idea for it arose, Kaua’i County is still hoping to build a 16-mile bicycle-pathway on the coastline from Ahukini by the Lihue Airport and Anahola on the North Shore.
Kaua’i County Council Bryan Baptiste was among the first councilmembers who threw their support behind it.
The county would be responsible for building and maintaining the pathway because the project would be developed on land not under the jurisdiction of the DOT.
Since the decision to upgrade Hawai’i’s bicycle plan, federal legislation has been enacted for bicycle-related improvements through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficient Act of 1991.
The funds also can be used to maintain state roads and highways, improve mass transportation system and implement programs to ease traffic congestion.
More people statewide have gotten interested in bicycle riding since 1977, when the first statewide bicycle plan was adopted, the DOT said.
Since that time, interest in using bicycles as a means of transportation, recreation and fitness has jumped, DOT said.
The state had about 84,000 registered bicycles in 1977. Thirteen years later, there were 117,451 registered bicycles, according to latest DOT figures.
