Su Haynes of Wailua Homesteads spent a bit of time watching cars drive down ‘Olohena Road yesterday afternoon, get turned around by Kaua‘i Police Department officers, then drive back up ‘Olohena Road. They were turned around because it looked like
Su Haynes of Wailua Homesteads spent a bit of time watching cars drive down ‘Olohena Road yesterday afternoon, get turned around by Kaua‘i Police Department officers, then drive back up ‘Olohena Road.
They were turned around because it looked like they might weigh over 4,000 pounds.
The new weight limit for vehicles passing over the deteriorating Olohena Bridge went into effect yesterday at noon..
The drivers and their passengers who were turned away did not look happy when they passed Haynes for the second time, she said.
While KPD Deputy Chief Harold “Ron” Venneman said there were no reports of incidents, negative feedback or complaints about the enforcement.
Haynes said the drivers and passengers she observed were irate.
Things will get even more complicated along the stretch of ‘Olohena Road that is now an alternative to the bumper-to-bumper Kuhio Highway through Wailua and Kapa‘a for some Wailua Homesteads and Kapahi and Kapa‘a residents seeking some relief on morning or afternoon commutes.
Not only are alternative routes in states of disrepair now and once the decision is made to close the ‘Olohena Road bridge for repairs (a one-lane closure is planned for county Department of Water improvements along Ka‘apuni Road), but side-walk-repair projects are snarling Kuhio Highway in Kapa‘a more than the normal traffic does.
“We’re not talking potholes. Half the road is gone,” Haynes said of a portion of Waipouli Road near her home.
Things got so bad yesterday, she said, that she requested, and received, from KPD officials cones to keep large trucks from using her driveway for a turn-around after drivers realized they could not use Waipouli Road to get around the ‘Olohena Road bridge closed to large vehicles.
Not doing something to prevent large vehicles from using her driveway as a turn-around would jeopardize her home insurance, she said.
“I don’t know where they’re going to put the school buses,” she said.
Haynes, who has been a vocal critic of a county plan not to erect a temporary bridge during the planned construction of a new ‘Olohena Road bridge, said county officials could make some serious points with residents by opting for a temporary bridge using flatbed railroad cars or a preformed, temporary bridge.
This could be kept around in the event of a hurricane, flash flood, tsunami, or other event that might take out another bridge.
“The cops are trying hard to be the good guys, but the staff time to ticket and observe what’s happening up here is getting eaten up instead by traffic control at the checkpoints,” she said.
