No government funds are available yet, but Gov. Linda Lingle, on Kaua’i for a visit Thursday, joined Mayor Bryan Baptiste Thursday in firming up traffic relief plans for the island. During a meeting at the Lihu’e Civic Center, Lingle, Baptiste
No government funds are available yet, but Gov. Linda Lingle, on Kaua’i for a visit Thursday, joined Mayor Bryan Baptiste Thursday in firming up traffic relief plans for the island.
During a meeting at the Lihu’e Civic Center, Lingle, Baptiste and Brennon Morioka, deputy director of highways for the state Department of Transportation, announced plans for “short-term and long-term” solutions for the Eastside and Westside of Kaua’i they said would cost several hundred million to implement.
Carrying out short-term plans, including widening certain parts of Kuhio Highway by Wailua Bay, could happen sooner than later because of the lower cost, they said.
But carrying out longer-term plans, including building a permanent bypass road in Kapa’a, will take much longer due to higher cost, the need to consult with residents and time-consuming environmental studies, the state and county officials said.
“We have the plan we would like to do,” Morioka said. “We want to get the funding, and have made a commitment to the mayor.”
DOT and Kaua’i County officials have announced efforts to resolve traffic problems on Kaua’i in the past.
But they have taken on the task with more zest this time around because of a louder call for help by Baptiste, Lingle said.
“I wanted to have the opportunity, in person, to thank Mr. Baptiste for taking the initiative on what is one of the most important issues facing the people of Kaua’i, and that it is the traffic and the quality of their lives, because they spend so much of their time in traffic,” Lingle said.
She said waiting in traffic “is time away, from your job, from our church work, your hobbies, just constantly degrading your quality of life.”
Some ideas proposed include a short-term solution for East Kaua’i traffic problems that looks like this:
- Widening Kuhio Highway from Kuamo’o Road in Wailua to the temporary Kapa’a Bypass road, at an estimated cost of $5 million.
Baptiste stressed a significant amount of coordination among county, state and federal agencies has been “ongoing” for this project.
Baptiste said the groups have focused their attention on underground utilities, possible drainage issues and more detailed traffic counts to improve traffic flow at intersections.
Morioka said issues have to be worked out with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the owners of the new Coco Palms hotel.
Once these issues are resolved, the DOT can move ahead with design plans, and “hopefully, construction can begin in 2007,” Morioka said.
- Installing an Acro-bridge (a temporary bridge) on top of an existing, single-lane haul cane bridge that spans the Wailua River and turning the bridge into a two-lane bridge. The conversion would provide a third-northbound lane to Kapa’a and beyond.
Development of some type of bridge project, in an extreme case, could cost an estimated $10 million, Morioka said.
Baptiste said private developers can help defray the cost of widening the highway into four lanes between the Coconut Market Place and the Waikaea Canal in Kapa’a.
That could be done through the government’s approval of “improvement district” legislation that would allow developers to float bonds for infrastructure improvements and then pass the cost on through the sale of dwelling units, for instance.
A short-term solution that has had immediate impact has been extending the hours of operation of the contra-flow traffic relief plan on Kuhio Highway between Wailua and Hanama’ulu.
The traffic relief program usually runs from 4:30 to 8:30 a.m., but has been extended to 9:30 a.m., Morioka and Baptiste reported, saying the Kaua’i police have reported successful results from the time extension.
Morioka said DOT officials are looking at extending the program until 10:30 a.m.
Baptiste said lots of residents have contacted county officials about how to make the contra-flow program work better. He said he appreciated their input immensely.
A long-term solution to easing traffic congestion in East Kaua’i is the development of the permanent Kapa’a Bypass Road, at an estimated cost of $150 million or so, Baptiste said.
A consultant is looking at five possible alignments, and the development of that road is far in the future, officials said.
Getting federal funds for the project options won’t be simple, as other Neighbor Island counties would be competing for them, Lingle said.
Getting large amounts of money to solve a traffic problem isn’t always necessary, Baptiste said. That was the case when Kaua’i police officer Joseph Ka’auwai took it upon himself to expedite northbound traffic flow from Kapule Highway and Hanama’ulu town to Wailua, Baptiste said.
During the heavy afternoon commute times, Ka’auwai has put up cones at the intersection of Kapule and Kuhio highways, and has directed continuous traffic across the intersection to facilitate northbound traffic.
“We want to thank Kauai Police officer Joseph Ka’auwai for coming up with the idea,” Baptiste said. “It truly has helped.”
Dr. Roger Netzer, a longtime Wailua resident, had suggested a similar plan to the DOT in the past.
Morioka said the DOT is moving forward on the “design of permanent modifications” for a through lane from the Hanama’ulu Bridge and safe left-turn lane through the same intersection.
The long-term solutions to resolve inbound traffic to Lihu’e call for:
- Expanding Kaumuali’i Highway from Rice Street to Puhi Road into four lanes in the future, a “first-phase” project that could be developed at an estimated cost of between $25 to $35 million.
- Expanding the highway from Puhi Road to Maluhia Road into four lanes in the future.
Both projects could be developed at an estimated cost of $150 million, Baptiste said.
Lingle, Baptiste and Morioka said they sympathize with residents who have to “wait in line” in traffic, and finding solutions is a top priority for them.
Lingle praised Baptiste for bringing together all the “players” who can work together to fashion solutions.
“The mayor has stepped in to take the lead to bring together the officials from the federal, state and the county level to address these issues in a very focused way,” she said.
Baptiste, who was self-effacing, said he just “wants to bring together experts who do know about these things, to give us an idea of all the variables that we would have to face in order to make this (implementation of the projects one day), a reality.”
Lingle also said Morioka’s position was created during her time in office to find solutions to traffic congestion found across the state, and credited Morioka for his dedication and hard work.
Officials also identified DOT projects they said have helped mitigate traffic congestion on Kaua’i:
- Widening the two-lane Waikaea Bridge into three lanes and building an acceleration lane that could be used as a fourth lane over the bridge;
- Installing traffic signals and making improvements at the Koloa Road intersection and widening of the Lawai Bridge from two to four lanes;
- Adjusting signal lights to provide an “optimal of through time” on Kuhio Highway at Kuamo’o Road and Haleilio Road.
- Expanding the temporary Kapa’a Bypass Road.
