NAWILIWILI — It took over four years, countless meetings and tens of thousands of dollars in studies, but the administration came to a conclusion on how to proceed with the Kapaia Bridge restoration. “Our recommendation is that we don’t proceed,”
NAWILIWILI — It took over four years, countless meetings and tens of thousands of dollars in studies, but the administration came to a conclusion on how to proceed with the Kapaia Bridge restoration.
“Our recommendation is that we don’t proceed,” said County Engineer Larry Dill, explaining that after a feasibility study the administration wouldn’t advise to restore the historic bridge unless the county acquires public access to it.
The bridge’s restoration was initially estimated at $4 million, he said. But a second evaluation, cutting a few corners, brought the cost down to $3.4 million, which includes acquiring public access.
Despite the administration saying the restoration is cost-prohibitive, the Kaua‘i County Council put $230,403 for the bridge in the county’s budget for next fiscal year. Councilman Tim Bynum said the money is to restore the original funding that the council initially approved.
“It’s up to the administration how they choose to use it,” Bynum said. “The ball is in the administration’s lap.”
But if the administration’s report is accurate, the $230,403 would not even cover 10 percent of the project.
If the administration had decided that the project should go forward, they would have to come before the council for funding. Alternatively, any council member could become a “champion” and introduce a resolution appropriating money for the project, according to Bynum.
“I didn’t hear any council member during the budget (review sessions) step up and say ‘let’s put $1 million or $2 million in it,’” he said. “I wasn’t prepared to do that.”
Laraine Moriguchi, director of the non-profit Kapaia Foundation, said the feasibility study should be the starting point for the bridge’s restoration rather than a way to justify abandoning the project.
“The study and design work, which was ordered as a non-bid contract award to a Honolulu engineering firm, Kai Hawaii, cost taxpayers a total of $136,000,” she said. “The administration stands by the report, but the public feels the report contains many flaws and grossly inflated costs.”
The Kapaia Bridge was built in 1948. It was used by pedestrians mainly to access the Catholic Church on the other side of Kapaia Stream, according to Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask. The county Public Works Department closed the bridge in 2006 because it was deemed unsafe.
Dill told council members during a meeting on May 11 that the consultant hired by the administration concluded that without replacing the foundation and other parts, the bridge could be restored with $1.66 million. The estimate included replacing the main suspension cables and wood.
The bridge was originally built with redwood, but the county over the years replaced some of the bridge’s original wood with Douglas fir. Dill said If the county decides to go with a preference from the State Historic Preservation Division, and use redwood in the restoration, the cost will bump another $400,000, bringing the bridge’s repair to $2.1 million.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said the bridge was originally built because it was the “logical way” for pedestrians to walk back and forth between Lihu‘e and Hanama‘ulu.
“If it can still serve that purpose, it seems to me $2 million is not that much,” she said.
But that price tag would still leave the bridge off limits to the public.
Spending $2.1 million on the restoration project would leave the county with a good bridge, Dill said, but without legal access to it because it sits on private property.
“There’s no dedicated public access, so it’s not accessible to the public right now by any official means,” he said.
Trask said the “most realistic” way to address the situation would be through land acquisition, but it would require financial compensation to landowners. He said the Kapaia community has been “very passionate” about restoring the bridge, and would likely support access from both sides of it.
With the bridge restoration budgeted at $2.1 million, Dill said adding legal access to the bridge would bump the entire project to approximately $3.4 million.
ADA compliance
Trask said given the historical nature of the bridge, there are exceptions that would allow the county to avoid compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which would save almost $180,000 just in the access ramp.
Council Chair Jay Furfaro said if the council decides to pursue the project, the next question would be the bridge’s historical value.
“We need to exhaust all the alternatives on this concept of historical value,” he said.
Kapaia Hillside CPR Association President Nina Monasevitch said the majority of Kapaia residents would like to see the bridge repaired to its original condition, without ADA access.
“We would really like to get around the ADA (compliance),” she said. “Overdoing it is going to kinda ruin it.”
Bynum said these are complex issues, and there are people with disabilities who would take issue with restoring the bridge without ADA compliance.
Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President Randy Francisco said he was having difficulties about priorities and values.
“Yesterday’s conversation, the discussion was about social justice. Today, it’s about cultural and historic heritage,” he said.
Denying the bridge’s restoration sends a mixed message to the community, Kapa‘a resident Ken Taylor said, because the mayor had just pushed for a complete-streets resolution.
Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura said what’s really needed is a community-based vision and a strategic plan to move forward.
“I don’t hear with a lot of clarity … what is the ideal level of use of this bridge,” she said. “How much will it be shared by people outside the (Kapaia) community? Will it connect with other pedestrian or bike paths in the larger community?”
A parking lot, she said, would be important if the bridge is promoted as a tourist attraction.
“We need to bring everyone on the same page,” Nakamura said. “Only then can we take any next steps to design what we want.”
Yukimura offered a simple solution for parking. Attendees of the annual bon dance in the nearby Buddhist temple usually park at the adjacent Catholic Church’s parking lot. Perhaps the church would be OK with letting tourists park at the church’s property, she said.
Bynum said if the bridge is a historical site, to his knowledge, it would still require a parking lot to allow people with disabilities to park and look at it.
Dill’s presentation was a response from Furfaro’s communication requesting the administration’s presence to provide the Finance/Parks and Recreation/Public Works Committee an update on the bridge’s repair.
The committee deferred decision on the communication until June 8, to allow time for answers from Councilman Mel Rapozo’s questions to Curtis Motoyama of the state Disability and Communication Access Board.
Go to www.kauai.gov for more information.
