Coconut Grove traffic discussed

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

At least one Coconut Grove resident likes buses for slowing traffic on busy Oneawa Street, where motorists tend to speed.

"The buses are good because the buses are the only thing that keeps traffic slow on Oneawa Street. We need more buses," said Bill Sullivan, one of about 50 subdivision residents at a Kainalu Elementary School meeting called by City Councilman John H. Felix.

Paul Won, chief of the Traffic Division of the city Department of Transportation Services, presented three suggestions for improving Oneawa.

They were:

Improve the makai side of Oneawa with curbs, gutters and an 8-foot sidewalk and an 8-foot grassy strip between the sidewalk and roadway;

Improve both sides of Oneawa with curbs, gutters, the sidewalks and grassy strips

Make about 15 bus stop improvements on the milelong stretch to include bus pullouts on each side which would mean condemning some private property.

The residents meeting in three planning groups opted for spots with grassy blocks to serve as parks on weekends and parking on weekdays for motorists taking the bus into town.

They also wanted underground utilities, bus shelters, walk signals on Oneawa, eliminating half of Oneawa's bus stops, and making Oneawa and Kihapai streets one way in opposite directions.

Cheryl Soon, city transportation director, said it might cost about $750,000 if one side of Oneawa is improved -- or about twice that if both sides are.

All suggestions will get further study, and there will be another meeting at the same place in September to fine-tune community planning, she said.

Paul Hamamoto, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation, spoke of plans to install two traffic signals on nearby Mokapu Saddle Road, one at Kaneohe Bay Drive and one at the H-3 on-ramp to control traffic.

Won said the traffic signal at Kaha Street and Kihapai will be changed to slow traffic, and a "roundabout," to circle traffic through the intersection, will go in. "The roundabout forces traffic to slow down. It's designed for 25 miles per hour," Soon added.

Moving down Kihapai Street from that intersection, a 4-foot median will go in to narrow lanes, he said.

Moving still farther down Kihapai, new flat speed tables -- 12 to 15 feet long, also will slow traffic, and an "angle slow point" will divert traffic somewhat horizontally, to slow it, Won said.

Going away from the intersection on Kaha Street, two speed tables will be installed, and another roundabout turn system will go in where Kaha meets Kainalu Drive, Won said.