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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Airport parking repairs to be finished in May
Question: I pay a fee of $100 a month to park for an unlimited time at the Interisland Terminal parking lot at Honolulu Airport because I go to the neighbor islands every weekend. I never had any problem finding a parking space until they started the valet parking service, because they were doing work on the seventh floor. But for the past two months, I'm having to park in the International Terminal parking lot, which is a hardship, especially with the torn ligaments in my knee. Because the valet parking is taking up choice space, it's almost impossible to find parking even when you go there on a Friday morning. I've had to pay an extra $30 and an extra $45 for valet parking on two weekends because I couldn't find parking and was given no consideration for being a monthly parker. When is the resurfacing of the seventh floor going to be completed, and when will they get rid of the valet service?
Answer: Work on the seventh, uppermost floor of the interisland parking garage is expected to be completed by the first week of May.
When that happens, valet parking, which is temporarily taking up the lower portion of the seventh-floor parking area, will utilize an airport parking lot on Lagoon Drive, said Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
Work on the parking garage, built in 1994, involves placing a new sealant to prevent water from leaking onto the lower floors, he said.
If water continued to seep through, it would lead to corrosion of the concrete and steel rebar within the parking floors, Ishikawa said.
The sealant work was expected to take at least four months, he said, so was scheduled between Christmas and the start of the summer travel season.
Meanwhile, blocking access to the top floor of the interisland parking garage for construction basically made it unusable for the public. Drivers would have had a difficult time parking, then turning around on the lower level of the seventh floor, Ishikawa said. (The stalls are marked diagonally, and traffic is basically one way through the structure.)
"So we temporarily converted that unused area of the seventh floor for valet parking to make use of the already tight space," he said.
Unfortunately, with less parking, the lots have been filled regularly because of low interisland airfares and spring break, he said. Valet parking was set up as "a convenient option."
At least 1,000 more parking stalls are being planned.
"We are close to selecting a contractor for a new parking garage and hope to break ground later this year," Ishikawa said. The structure will be located between the interisland and overseas terminals.
Auwe
Drivers are speeding on Kamokila Boulevard and not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk in front of Zippy's. Pedestrians jaywalk across Kamokila between the bus stops in front of the Chevron gas station. HPD, please enforce the speeding and pedestrian laws. -- Concerned Driver and Pedestrian
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