Can't see the forest for the trees, y'know? Several months ago Stan M. Gapol e-mailed us, asking about "rusted-out metal box-like contraptions with metal poles attached." According to Gapol, these things were all over H-2, dotting the medians and shoulders from Waipahu to Wheeler. Rusty boxes
sprinkle landscape
So we trotted out and looked, and couldn't find them. It happens. Then Gapol reiterated his query last week, wondering that the items "do not seem to be operational, so why doesn't the DOT dispose of these rusted out, unsightly and seemingly useless structures?"
Unsightly? That was the clue we needed, so we trotted out once more and looked, and, by gum, there they were. Now we see them everywhere. On the shoulders of Mililani Industrial Park off-ramp. At Exit 5A, where H-1 branches north. At the Meheula Parkway Intersection. In our dreams. They're everywhere.
What they are, according to Marilyn Kali, the state Department of Transporta-tion's spokesperson, are control units for sprinkler systems. At least they were. The units failed many moons ago, and have since been allowed to rust gracefully, and occasionally, to fall over and lie pitifully supine.
"We're planning to have them removed in the near future," said Kali. "We're always interested in beautifying our highways, and the usefulness of these gadgets passed some time ago."
Apparently, all they needed was a complaint from a citizen to get the Rusted-Out Mystery Box Clean-Up Squad into action. Sorry, Stan.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin
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