• Gridlock growing around island • Real action needed on traffic Gridlock growing around island It’s good news that our Eastside traffic problem is being addressed, though the problem is sure to overwhelm any funds allocated to make partial fixes. We’ll take
• Gridlock growing around island • Real action needed on traffic
Gridlock growing around island
It’s good news that our Eastside traffic problem is being addressed, though the problem is sure to overwhelm any funds allocated to make partial fixes.
We’ll take what we can get at this point but the issue needs to be front and center from here on out. Future planners should stop approving developments until we have adequate infrastructure to support them.
Do we want unsustainable growth or do we want small town Kapaa with actual flowing traffic? We can’t have both. Today, not tomorrow, we need to find a solution to the mess we have allowed to happen on the island. The current problem is a result of a lack of planning which allowed overdevelopment.
Some are concerned that any potential fix should not include bypasses as that allows commuters to bypass businesses. But the opposite might be true. Many of us who might have gone into Kapaa to shop don’t, due to the congestion.
There isn’t much chance of Kuhio Highway being widened without taking one side of street and leveling the shops. That leaves bypasses as the option if the funds allow it.
This is our island. It’s not the Mainland so let’s not make those comparisons. When you can’t drive through your own town without gridlock there is a problem. Let’s not forget the North Shore, Hanalei traffic and finding a place to park there or anywhere on up to Ke’e.
We have gotten to the point where we can’t move around and enjoy our own island. Did anyone involved in permitting foresee that when development after development was approved? How could they not? So here we are.
Paulo Tambolo, Wailua Homesteads
Real action needed on traffic
In the business section of TGI (8/14) Kauai Board of Realtors President, Hannah Serois does a fine interview about “Developing a healthy community.”
However one statement she makes deserves some careful examination. She states that through public and private partnerships Kauai will be able to bring forth housing in a sensible fashion without compounding other issues such as traffic and infrastructure.
This statement is a great sound bite but it offers no meaningful solution to the problems that exist or will be created.
Yes, the public and a few council members have been screaming for infrastructure to be put in place before any new developments take place. Traffic will only worsen as development takes place without alternate routes and wider roads — a no brainer.
But, as the old saying goes, talk is cheap — where is the leadership in our government to make progress happen? Our planners propose more bike lanes, bike routes, bike paths, buses walking and shuttles as a solution which is a ludicrous suggestion. None of these have alleviated traffic as the commuting public has seen.
Maybe you, Ms Serios and your BOR can exert more pressure on our “leaders” to stop the talk and start the action.
Glenn Mickens, Kapaa
