• Danger! Crosswalk • Onus belongs on the rental car agencies • Lions and tigers and 288 cars, oh my! • The big picture? Danger! Crosswalk The commercial and residential area behind Kukui Grove Shopping Center is rapidly growing. New
• Danger! Crosswalk
• Onus belongs on the rental car agencies
• Lions and tigers and 288 cars, oh my!
• The big picture?
Danger! Crosswalk
The commercial and residential area behind Kukui Grove Shopping Center is rapidly growing. New buildings and homes are being constructed, and as tenants take possession, new offices are being opened. Currently there are two huge stores, doctors’ offices, an exercise center, a daycare, a gas station, a senior complex, a school and various offices located within a radius of a few blocks of one another.
The island’s largest shopping center is also located in the vicinity. An inevitable issue that accompanies this kind of growth is traffic — both vehicular and pedestrian. As a result of this expansion, I believe there is an immediate need that warrants an in depth look at an important safety factor in this area: crosswalks.
I work in this area and have watched seniors take their early morning or afternoon walks (some with their pets), walkers enjoying their fair share of the sidewalks as they vigorously pursue a healthy life, workers enjoying a walk to the shopping center for lunch and students walking to and from school.
Within the last week, I observed (on two occasions) students from Chiefess Kamakahelei School very nearly get hit by vehicles. The streets on both sides of Costco and The Home Depot (Nohou and Kalepa) are used extensively by these students as well as by our older folks who live in the senior complex. Many of the students walk to the shopping center to board The Kaua‘i Bus. Depending on where they cross, this involves from four to five streets crossings. There are a few crosswalks by the school, but beyond that they cease. Does anybody else see something wrong with this picture?
Do we have to wait for a serious mishap before we do something about it? Today as I walked to the shopping center I waited to cross the street at Kalepa and was literally in shock at the rate of speed that some cars were traveling. They seemed determined to get to wherever they were going at light-speed. Was someone waving a checkered flag somewhere? This same style of driving is prevalent on Nohou Street parallel to Kalepa. The shame of driving like that on Nohou, more so, is that the senior complex and a school are situated on that street. It is obvious that no consideration whatsoever is given to the pedestrian traffic.
Add to this the distractions of cell phones (hands-on or hands-free doesn’t get it; it’s concentration — I know, I’m just as guilty), blasting music, conversations with others (in the car or while walking), paying more attention to yourself in the mirror than on the road and (of course) attitude, we’ve got a major issue here.
With two fatalities already on the record for our Kaua‘i roads, I would hope that “the powers that be” would want to take extra measures to ensure the safety of our streets. Isn’t it better we take action before than after?
Does Kaua‘i really want to physically affirm the statistics that Hawai‘i is one of most dangerous places for pedestrians?
Annie Crain
Lihu‘e
Onus belongs on the rental car agencies
In response to the several suggestions from residents (Letters, Jan. 27) that car rental services inform their customers of safety measures and suggestions on driving on Kaua‘i:
In August 2004, I wrote a personal letter to each and every car rental agency on the island suggesting that they provide a colorful flyer to their car rental customers. I suggested that the flyer said something like “We know that Kaua‘i is a very beautiful place to visit and we are happy that you have chosen us for your car rental service. Please remember that it is very courteous for you to pull to the side of the road and let other traffic pass you so that you can take time to delight in the view and to avoid a possible accident. Please be sure to abide by all safe driving rules and have a wonderful vacation.”
I did not receive a reply to any of them. I believe that it is imperative that the car rental agencies take responsibility for their customers and inform them in advance of safe, courteous driving practices here and everywhere.
After all, it is their car that may be returned to them in damaged or totally useless condition.
Robin Voorhies
Kapa‘a
Lions and tigers and 288 cars, oh my!
Let’s shut down all movie theaters, churches, sporting events, the county fair and the 4th of July celebration — because when these places and events let out there are over 288 cars hitting our highways all at once!
Sound nuts? When a big movie lets out at Kukui Grove Cinema, over 400 vehicles leave all at the same time and the island still functions fine! The 288 cars from the Superferry will have no impact at all!
Getting out of the parking lot at Safeway is hard, but no harder than it was before the Waipouli Beach Resort opened.
I grew up in Virginia Beach, Va. It had dirt roads and old houses along the beach. Now it is a wall of high-rises. Growth is inevitable. Lets just plan for it properly and move forward!
Ron Fleet
Kapa‘a
The big picture?
Coming soon to a theater near you!
“The Kaua‘i Film Commission: Missing in Action II.”
Have you visited their Web site lately (www.filmkauai.com)? Under what’s new is a fossilized Web page that could be carbon-dated.
We could save office space and rent if we moved the film commission office’s to an exhibit at the Kaua‘i Museum. Seems to me the last major motion picture company was here back in 2001.
Talk about our Kaua‘i’s own version of “Lost.”
I took some heat last year for commenting on the “Do-nothing Film Commission” here in the paper (“Do we really need a do-nothing film commission?” Letters, Oct. 16, 2005) and here I am again, ready to get painted with red laser-targeting dots, my Kevlar fully suited. You will have to do better than pointing out the fact that they dragged a plastic snake up the Wailua River last year filming a sci-fi low-budget film called “Primevil.”
Has anyone audited the $82,100 operations budget lately? Must pay for a lot of props, including lots of smoke and mirrors. Alas, this is the home of “Fantasy Island.” Let the delusion continue. Ah, the lights are dimming, the smell of popcorn is in the air … and the rerun starts once again.
Stephen Haray
Waipouli
Editor’s note: “Primevil” was the working title at the time of filming. According to imdb.com, the movie is called “Supergator,” and the killer reptile was computer-generated.
