WAIPOULI — Darla Cox has lived on Kauai for 10 years and in that time she has seen the traffic on Kuhio Highway between Kapaa and Lihue go from “a little bit better to worse.” “It’s horrible — it’s really
WAIPOULI — Darla Cox has lived on Kauai for 10 years and in that time she has seen the traffic on Kuhio Highway between Kapaa and Lihue go from “a little bit better to worse.”
“It’s horrible — it’s really horrible, actually, especially going toward Kapaa town,” Cox said as she and her granddaughter shopped at the Farmer’s Market at Coconut MarketPlace.
The Wailua Homesteads resident says she travels the stretch of Kuhio Highway between Kapaa and Lihue almost daily and usually allocates at least 30 minutes to drive from her home to Costco or pick up her granddaughter from school near Kealia Beach.
Those same drives, she said, used to take about 20 minutes each way when she first moved to Kauai.
Cox, like many Kauai residents and tourists, is among the thousands of motorists who have — what some would say — a love-hate relationship with the island’s main thoroughfare, which serves as a lifeline for the Eastside of the island.
State Rep. James Kunane “Jimmy” Tokioka said the results from earlier traffic mitigation and improvement efforts are already paying off for drivers.
He said early morning Lihue-bound traffic and late afternoon Kapaa-bound traffic “was a nightmare” several years ago along Kuhio Highway before the state Department of Transportation’s road widening projects, coupled with the county’s contraflow efforts, alleviated some of the congestion.
Traffic into Kapaa, he said, used to back up to Kealia Beach from Waipouli Town Center.
“I think most of the people understand that there’s construction going on and that it is going to take a little while more,” Tokioka said. “But if you’ve ever been in the traffic on Oahu, now that’s real traffic. When you’re going from Kapolei to downtown for an 8-mile drive and it sometimes takes you an hour and a half to get there every day, that’s crazy.”
Some business owners, however, are taking it in stride and have a different take on the traffic through Kapaa.
Kai Kauai Salon co-owner Marii Rodriguez said the Lihue-bound highway traffic that runs along her shop in Kapaa has had a positive impact on her business by attracting new customers who read the store’s sign as they drive by it.
Rodriguez, who opened the salon with her business partner Rinaldo Sebanz in April, said the traffic is especially helpful, because their business largely relies on word-of-mouth recommendations than print or online advertisements.
“During some parts of the day, the traffic just flies by so they’re not able to read our sign to see who we are, but when they’re stopped in traffic, they look and see the sign on our awning and notice that we offer hair, massage and facial services,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve had so many calls from people who are curious and want to see what our prices are.”
Carolyn DeSilva, who has worked at The Shell Factory in Kapaa for nearly 16 years, said the traffic has had a small impact on the business but acknowledged that the construction work happening outside the store will ultimately have a positive impact for both tourists and residents.
“In my mind, I think they (the construction crew) are doing a good job,” DeSilva said. “They’re working so hard to improve the economy and all that, so it’s worthwhile.”
Meantime, Cox said she, like other motorists, will continue to deal with the traffic and find ways around it, such as using bypass roads, while ongoing highway construction efforts continue.
“I pretty much put up with it just knowing that it’s going to get better,” Cox said. “It is going to get better — I just don’t know when that will be.”
