Think traffic is a bit chaotic sometimes on Kaua‘i? You would be right. It is, and it’s only going to get worse as the summer season settles in. Kuhio Highway or Kaumuali‘i Highway can quickly turn into a sea of
Think traffic is a bit chaotic sometimes on Kaua‘i? You would be right. It is, and it’s only going to get worse as the summer season settles in.
Kuhio Highway or Kaumuali‘i Highway can quickly turn into a sea of cars, trucks and SUVs, many merging into what seems to be an endless line of slow-moving vehicles. If you hit Kapa‘a around lunch, or around 6, you can expect to spend some extra time behind the wheel watching the lights blink green, yellow and red.
Coming down Kuamo‘o Road in the morning to get on Kuhio, say 7-8ish, the traffic can back up a half-mile or more. If you’re in a hurry, it can be maddening, exasperating (even though you’ll generally be on your way in five minutes or so).
But take your foot off the gas a second before you flip the bird and ride the bumper of that slow poke in front of you driving the rental car.
As bad as the traffic can get here, consider what our friends in Honolulu go through on their morning and evening ritual traveling to and from work.
Honolulu was ranked as having the second-worst traffic in the nation, only behind Los Angeles, according to a recent study.
Some folks drive two hours, one way, to get to their jobs. You don’t want to be on the road around 6:15 p.m. Thursdays in Honolulu, the study found, because that’s the most congested hour of the week. According to the annual Inrix Inc. study, drivers in Hawai‘i’s capital wasted an average of 50 hours sitting in traffic in 2012. And that’s an improvement from 60 hours in 2011.
But wait. Increased traffic isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Inrix reported that the slow economic recovery means a drop in activity on the road.
More people going back to work, said Jim Bak, the study’s author, means “more people are willing to go out and spend money.”
“We’re really seeing a strong correlation between return of employment and return of traffic,” he said.
And that’s good for businesses.
So when you soon find yourself in a line of traffic snaking its way along the Kuhio Highway on an 80-degree day, and you’re running late, just relax and tell yourself, “This is a good thing.”
Say it enough, and you might just believe it.
