On behalf of the residents of Koloa Estates, I would like to commend The Garden Island for covering topics important to the local community and providing a forum for presenting local points of view on these issues.
In response to a letter to the editor published on Feb. 25, I wish to clear up several misconceptions regarding the planned opening of Lopaka Paipa Boulevard through our community.
First, the residents of Koloa Estates are those who will be directly impacted by the opening up of Lopaka Paipa to through traffic. We are not “residents of the massive Kukuiula project” but a quiet local community of single-family homes with many permanent residents. In fact, we support asking the neighboring Kukuiula development to “keep their promises” and abide by their commitments to the local community. However, we don’t want road construction undertaken by Kukuiula to adversely impact Koloa Estates as well as the community at large.
Although some of the details of earlier covenants were agreed to over 20 years ago, local conditions and development patterns have changed considerably over that time period. Improvements that did not exist then are now in place. The new Poipu roundabout, coupled with western bypass road, has successfully provided a viable option for traffic traveling north toward Koloa Town, with no need to cut through our community.
We have grave concerns that opening Lopaka Paipa to through traffic will significantly impact the safety of our children, create potential traffic conflict points, exasperate flooding and limit safe access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The proposed through road would connect our local street with a limited-access high-speed bypass road with no room to create a safe merge lane. Cars would be traveling on our 25 mph street, come to a complete stop at a stop sign, and then be required to merge with traffic on a 40 mph roadway with no merge lane. In addition, the bypass road curves as it approaches Lopaka Paipa, creating a limited sight-line before encountering cars turning onto the road — an extremely dangerous condition.
At the other end of Lopaka Paipa, rather than alleviating congestion on Poipu Road, opening the street to through traffic will actually make the situation much worse. The added turning motions will create many conflict points, slowing traffic considerably. With no room to add a turning lane, this will create a traffic nightmare as people wait for cars ahead of them to turn from the one moving lane.
We have studied the issues and have proposed a much better solution to the opening of Lopaka Paipa. Vehicles can utilize an existing right of way through a nearby undeveloped parcel owned by A&B that is planned for a future community recreational facility.
Such an access road will better serve the residents of the area while actually reducing the traffic impacts on Poipu Road. We have presented this reasonable alternative to both the County Council as well as the Planning Commission in a detailed, illustrated memo that explains each issue point by point.
We are certain that creating direct vehicular access to the proposed local community park will not only eliminate the potential safety hazards of opening up a local community street such as Lopaka Paipa, but actually provide a better solution to alleviating traffic congestion. In addition, this would enhance and support all of the stated community improvements that Kukui’ula has committed to provide for all residents of the area.
We hope that our county officials will listen to those who will be directly impacted by this proposed street opening, and will seriously consider our concerns and implement a solution that can be a “win-win” for all concerned.
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Ray Gordon is president of Koloa Estates Community Association.
