KILAUEA — Traffic flows in and around Kilauea are set to change dramatically in coming weeks as the new Kilauea Bridge opened Tuesday, clearing two additional access points to the former plantation town and removing the need for a temporary
KILAUEA — Traffic flows in and around Kilauea are set to change dramatically in coming weeks as the new Kilauea Bridge opened Tuesday, clearing two additional access points to the former plantation town and removing the need for a temporary traffic light that had been stationed on Kuhio Highway.
After more than nine months of work and nearly $13 million in federal and county funding, the 102-foot-long, 35-foot-wide two-lane bridge opened Tuesday afternoon with a maile-cutting ceremony.
“Everyone was excited, we knew something important was happening. It’s hard to put in words, it’s just one of the magical moments that you don’t get much in life,” said Kilauea Neighborhood Association President Linda Pasadava yesterday. “(The bridge) is not only utilitarian, but a thing of beauty.”
The ceremony was attended by Mayor Bernard Carvalho, as well as members of the Kaua‘i County Council and students from Kilauea School.
Officials called the ceremony a “soft opening” because other dignitaries will be traveling from O‘ahu for an official blessing ceremony tentatively scheduled for Dec. 19.
But that is just a formality. Job Superintendent Kenn Hallquist of Kiewit Pacific Co. said yesterday there is no more work to be done, describing the bridge as “100 percent completed” and “officially open.”
“It was a success and the community is extremely happy with it. Everyone who was driving over it was honking and happy to have it open,” he said.
While the completion of the construction and the reopening of the Hookui Road and Pili Road access points are undoubtedly positives, the project’s conclusion does not come without pitfalls.
Because the new bridge is two lanes, rather than one like its predecessor, drivers may be more inclined to cross the stream at high speeds despite the fact the bridge is in a residential neighborhood and adjacent to a school.
Liliuokalani Street residents had circulated a petition requesting speed deterrents like bumps or “tables” on the end of their street fronting the bridge, and Pasadava said there had also been discussion of similar measures being installed on both sides of the bridge.
Also at issue is the temporary traffic signal, which was installed in response to the increased congestion at the junction of Kuhio Highway and Kolo Road, which became the only access point to Kilauea town during construction on the bridge.
“At first I was against having a traffic light on the North Shore just because we never had one and it’s not what the North Shore is about,” said KNA board member Larry Hinkel, yesterday. “(But now) the consensus in Kilauea town is that everyone is in favor of the control, and safety shouldn’t be compromised.”
But because the signal is temporary, it is not on a permanent structure, mounted on trailers instead of attached to the ground, and is not sensor controlled, making it a “danger to drivers,” according to Hawai‘i Department of Transportation spokeswoman Tammy Mori.
For those reasons, and because the light was designed to mediate issues caused by now-completed construction, the signal will be removed during the second week of January 2009, Mori said, which will allow travelers time to adjust to new traffic flows.
Before the signal is removed, DOT officials will be conducting a traffic study to determine if a permanent traffic light, or even a roundabout, is warranted. Mori said the study, which will measure traffic counts, is scheduled to begin this month.
Hinkel voiced his concern for the safety of pedestrians who cross the road to catch the Lihu‘e-bound Kaua‘i bus on the mauka side of Kuhio Highway and said he hoped the DOT would be proactive in its planning.
How the study weighs the potential future pedestrian and vehicular traffic impacts of the proposed Anaina Hou project remains to be seen.
The project, to include an 18-hole miniature golf course, botanical gardens, nursery and park-and-ride bus stop in a lot adjacent to Banana Joe’s, north of Kilauea town on the mauka side of Kuhio Highway, is currently in the planning stages.
