Traffic expected to worsen
Honolulu congestion in 2030 will match Tucson and other cities, a report says
If major steps are not taken to relieve traffic congestion in Honolulu, motorists can expect to experience the same amount of traffic delay in 2030 that drivers in Tucson, Ariz.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Philadelphia experience today, according to a study by Reason Foundation, a public policy research organization.
But even if no steps are taken, traffic congestion in Honolulu will be nowhere near as bad as it is in major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.
The report, Building Roads to Reduce Traffic Congestion in America's Cities, says Honolulu needs an additional 296 lane-miles of roadways by 2030 to relieve traffic congestion. The study estimates the cost of constructing that much more road capacity is slightly more than $1 billion in today's dollars.
The study also looked at traffic congestion in the Kailua-Kaneohe area. It said 25.2 lane-miles of roadway need to be added there to relieve projected 2030 traffic congestion at a cost of $50 million.
In 2003, commutes through Honolulu took 19 percent longer during peak traffic times when compared with nonpeak hours, according to traffic density data compiled by Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute.
By 2030, peak traffic commute times are expected to take 31 percent longer than during nonpeak hours, according to the Reason report.
The report estimates rush-hour drives through Kailua and Kaneohe in 2003 took 4 percent longer than non-rush-hour trips. By 2030, peak-traffic driving delays are expected to double, to 8 percent longer than during nonpeak hours, the report said.
The state Department of Transportation just completed widening the H-1 freeway in Waimalu and is considering more freeway widening projects at traffic bottlenecks. It is also widening other major roadways and is scheduled to build new ones.
But there is a limit to how much a roadway can be widened, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman.
"It's easy to say, 'Just widen the highway,' but it usually means buying out someone's homes," he said.
The city is moving forward on a transit alternative, and the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization has at the heart of its transportation plan for 2030 a rail transit system between Kapolei and Honolulu.