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State wants public The state Transportation Department is updating its Bike Plan Hawaii this year and wants to hear from all kinds of bicycle riders as it outlines proposed routes at a series of meetings over the next three weeks.
to plot path
for cycling plan
Officials are seeking input to
help improve islands' bicycle routesBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com
Recreational bicyclists who like to meander on scenic bike paths on Sundays.
Hard-core racers whose idea of an easy ride is 30 miles.
Commuting bicyclists who get their exercise on the way to and from work.
Kids riding to school or in the neighborhood with friends.
The input from all kinds of cyclists is wanted.
The whole objective, according to state bicycle and pedestrian coordinator Vince Llorin, is to get "a step closer in bringing our tropical paradise to a place that is more walkable and bikeable."
At meetings last fall, cyclists from each neighborhood on Oahu and regions of the neighbor islands shared with Llorin and the consulting group Kimura International their priorities for improving and adding bike routes.
Beginning tonight in East Oahu, people can look over the routes the consultant will propose to the state -- and say whether that is what they want. There will be four meetings each on Oahu and the Big Island, one on Maui and one on Kauai.
On islands where there are multiple meetings, maps of all routes on that island will be available at each meeting.
Nancy Nishikawa, a Kimura International senior planner, said each person at the meetings will be given three sticky dots. By placing those dots on the route maps, people will be voting for their top three priority routes.
The sum of that input will be crafted into a draft of the 2002 bike plan and posted on the Web in coming months, where others can give feedback as well, she said.
For the past five years, the state has spent $6 million on bikeway projects, and almost $9 million is budgeted for the next three years, Llorin said.
Hawaii Bicycling League President John Kelley said that cyclists have been a little disenchanted with the seriousness of transportation officials' commitment to bikeways in the past, but things seem to be looking up.
Bike Plan Hawaii meeting schedule
>> Today, 6:30 p.m., Hawaii Kai Library, 249 Lunalilo Home Road.
>> Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., Kaneohe Community & Senior Center, 45-613 Puohala St.
>> Wednesday, 6 p.m., Wailuku Community Center, Wailuku.
>> Thursday, 6:30 p.m., War Memorial Convention Hall, Lihue.
>> Next Monday, 6 p.m., King Kamehameha Hotel, Kailua-Kona.
>> May 7, 6 p.m., Parker Ranch Town Hall, Waimea, Hawaii.
>> May 8, 6 p.m., Pahoa Neighborhood Center, Puna, Hawaii.
>> May 9, 6 p.m., UH Komohana Ag. Complex, Conference Room A, Hilo.
>> May 13, 6:30 p.m., Kapolei Elementary School Cafetorium.
>> May 14, 6:30 p.m., Mililani Recreation Center III, 95-281 Kaloapau St.
State of Hawaii
