$1 million project
aims to reduce
Waianae Coast
traffic, road risks

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Officials are looking at ways to reduce traffic hazards along the Waianae Coast, problems that have deeply concerned residents in the area.

"We currently have a $1 million planning design project under way to look at traffic safety and operational concerns between Nanakuli and Makaha," said Perry Manthos, state highways administrator.

Manthos said state officials have met with the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board and will meet again in March on what construction projects may be generated.

Likely construction could include sidewalk improvements to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and separate left-turn lanes on Farrington Highway to reduce the risk of head-on collisions.

The cost of improvements and how rapidly they may be implemented are critical factors, Manthos said, and projects may be phased in year by year.

"The biggest issue will be securing funding," he said.

In listing problems, some residents speak of school crosswalk signs that have been knocked down, and stop signs so faded that the red is bleached to white and only one letter of the sign is readable.

Better sidewalks, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are sought. Some also say there aren't enough speed-limit signs on Farrington Highway, such as near Makua Valley where a soldier motorcyclist was killed Jan. 3.

Police had moved to better enforce speed limits on the highway after the Dec. 14 death of a 10-year-old boy, who was struck by a speeding vehicle in a crosswalk near Waianae Intermediate School.

Neighborhood board Chairwoman Cynthia Rezentes said she wants more specifics. She said separate left-turn lanes sound good, but she questions where they will go since little room exists to widen Farrington Highway.

But after many accidents and fatalities, something needs to be done, she said.

"Part of it is to try to slow the traffic down and provide pedestrian traffic with the means to get across the highway safely," Rezentes said.

Room for improvement also exists on Lualualei Homestead Road near Leihoku Elementary School. City Councilman John DeSoto has said the school shouldn't have been built there, and sees traffic concerns neglected in part because of past city-state disagreement over jurisdiction.

But with the city now taking responsibility for the road and the state providing funds, DeSoto thinks a solution is possible.

Rezentes said the school's location is difficult because of heavy truck traffic. "There are some blind curves in there," she said. "I don't believe that there's been any definitive proposal that solves all of the issues."

Volunteers have long helped children cross busy Lualualei Homestead Road to and from the school, but close calls occur. The city is looking into pedestrian-activated traffic signals and traffic islands to narrow the roadway and slow traffic at a bend in the road.