CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Al Hood was the first to drive down the new road paid for by Kapolei Property Development LLC that offers an alternative to the traffic crunch in front of the Kapolei Shopping Center.
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New Kapolei road is greeted as route to rail
Projects to ease gridlock elicit confidence from residents and federal funders, the mayor says
Officials blessed a new road yesterday designed to ease traffic gridlock in the heart of Kapolei town.
The $6 million Manawai Street and Kamaaha Avenue extensions, along with several other planned traffic improvements, could also help set the stage for bringing rail transit to West Oahu.
"It shows we have our eye on the big picture and we're looking at every aspect of it," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.
The new road -- paid by Kapolei Property Development LLC, an affiliate of the Estate of James Campbell -- will allow Kapolei village residents to bypass the busy Farrington Highway/Makakilo Drive Intersection, alleviating the crunch in front of the Kapolei Shopping Center.
"I think it's going to help more because there's so much traffic, and when school starts it's going to be worse," said Jasmine Yoro, 17, a recent graduate of Kapolei High School.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Councilmen Todd Apo, left, and Nestor Garcia, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and Mayor Mufi Hannemann celebrated the turning on of traffic lights on Fort Barrette Road, part of the project extending Manawai Street and Kamaaha Avenue.
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The mayor, who works at Kapolei Hale at least once a week, also gets caught up in traffic during lunch time and after work.
"Getting out in the afternoon is a bear," Hannemann said.
Drivers will now be able to travel directly from Kamokila Boulevard to Fort Barrette Road and into the Kapolei residential area via the extended portions of Manawai Street and Kamaaha Avenue.
"It now gives them another option," Hannemann said.
Kapolei Property Development President Donna Goth said Campbell Estate is involved in four other projects to get traffic moving in Kapolei -- all under way and in different phases:
» A 1-mile section of Kapolei Parkway between Fort Barrette Road and Kamokila Boulevard. Cost: $15 million.
» Planning and design of the Kapolei Interchange, costing $2 million.
» Kamokila Boulevard extension. Price tag of $2 million.
» Widening of Makakilo Drive between the H-1 freeway and Farrington Highway. The cost is $1 million.
Hannemann said the projects are important to the quality of life in Kapolei and its surrounding communities of Makakilo and Ewa.
Hannemann said there are several reasons why these projects also could help bring rail transit to the west side.
Completion of local traffic solutions could help show a track record of dealing with gridlock, to secure federal funding and approval for rail and also to get a buy-in by the local community.
"That's all part of the case that we are making, that we're addressing it beyond just the rail issue," Hannemann said.
"Obviously, rail is a centerpiece of that, but we also have to make sure the people can move with relative ease within their communities, and this is where these improvements are almost as important with what we want to do with rail," he said.