Open letter to County Council: You cannot ignore the carrying capacity of the area’s transportation system (infrastructure) for 45 years, while development moves full speed ahead … then expect a Band-Aid approach to solve or satisfy the congestion problems of
Open letter to County Council:
You cannot ignore the carrying capacity of the area’s transportation system (infrastructure) for 45 years, while development moves full speed ahead … then expect a Band-Aid approach to solve or satisfy the congestion problems of today and tomorrow.
There should not be any new development projects, over 10 units approved until we have solved our long-range traffic/congestion problems.
The state long-range transportation plan shows the predicament we are in. This cannot be ignored.
First, we know the state just spent about $ 80 million on 2 miles of highway in Lihue and that four lanes were to go another five miles out to the tree tunnel, but the funds were not available.
April 2014, the Department of Transportation, presented its Long-Range Transportation Plan (2014-2035) needs to the community.
Kauai is expected to receive only about $630 million for transportation projects between 2014-2035, based on historic funding levels.
The estimated cost to address identified transportation needs by 2035 would be nearly $3.2 billion.
Kaumualii Highway on the Westside of Lihue now carries over 36,000 vehicles every day in both directions, while Kuhio Highway to the north carries over 36,000 vehicles per day.
Both segments have a V/C of 1.0 or greater and are operating at LOS F. (A V/C ratio of 1.0 indicates the vehicle demand is equal to the capacity of the facility. The LOS generally describes operating conditions in 6 letter-grade categories. LOS A typically represents conditions with little or no delays, while LOS F indicates poor operations with long wait times or extreme congestion.)
Volumes on Kaumualii Highway between Lihue and Kelaheo are expected to increase by over 30 percent by 2035, resulting in road conditions characterized by “poor operations with long wait times or extreme congestion.”
Kuhio Highway between Lihue and Kapaa would see similar increases in volume and result in much worse operating conditions compared to today. Travel time between communities would increase, and vehicles on both highways could experience long delays and slow travel times.
Because these facilities would not be able to handle the expected traffic, they are identified as a transportation need/deficiency.
On top of the $3.2 billion needed for state highways, the county has a $100 million maintenance backlog.
To make matters worse, the 2035 Kauai tourism is projected to increase by 20 percent. Arrivals in 2016 — 1,187,476.
We have dug ourselves into a hole. Common sense tells us that if we’re digging ourselves into a hole, we should stop digging.
With expected household numbers islandwide to increase by 30 percent we must understand even if we were able to get 10 percent of these people to use public transportation, we would still be adding great numbers of vehicles to the already congested roadway.
Without making the cost of operating the vehicle much higher, we will very unlikely never get 10 percent or more to ride the bus.
Also, without some controls on visitor population growth and vehicle rentals the traffic congestion continues to grow.
We face immense problems from traffic and massive grid lock in our community if the whole mess is not brought to standstill with a slowdown in development, so we can properly plan for the traffic flow and preserve the ambiance and quality of life issues that we love about Kauai.
Perhaps we should take seriously Will Rogers suggestion: “Take all the cars off the road that are not paid for” — including all rental cars.
We all must remember that the best intentions and most insightful plans mean nothing if they do not serve the needs and desires of the community.
Regarding freight, the plan goes on: Currently, Nawiliwili Harbor handles nearly 90 percent of all cargo arriving or leaving from Kauai. This is over 900,000 tons, or approximately 75,600 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Approximately 60,000 freight vehicles annually are necessary to distribute this cargo around the island.
As the economy is expected to grow, cargo tonnage into and out of the island is expected to increase. By 2035, freight tonnage would increase by about 20 percent, resulting in over 1 million tons of cargo (or about 90,500 TEUs) at Nawiliwili Harbor annually.
Compared to today, 12,000 additional freight vehicles would be on Kauai’s roads to deliver goods.
As noted above Kaumualii Highway and Kuhio Highway will be congested. Traffic operations need to be improved to avoid costly delays and economic impacts to freight vehicles, which we the people end up paying for.
I strongly believe, based on the information above, that there should not be any new development projects, over 10 units, approved until we have solved our long-range traffic/congestion problems.
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Ken Taylor is a resident of Kapaa.
