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Central Oahu
bus plan gets
mixed reviews

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By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

The Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board last night gave no recommendation on a preliminary report on tentative hub-and-spoke bus routes for Central Oahu,

But neighborhood board members were concerned a number of Mililani residents opposed the plan at an earlier forum.

Also, a master plan for 10-acre Kaomaaiku Park just below H-2 freeway on the east side of Mililani got mixed reviews.

On the bus routes, consultant Michelle Kurisu, project coordinator for the city Department of Transportation Services Hub & Spoke plan, said a first phase of the new bus setup is in operation in Leeward Oahu.

But 21 people at a forum Thursday at Mililani District Park showed some opposition to extending the concept to Central Oahu. No definite plan is set for this North Shore-Wahiawa-Mililani run.

The idea is buses come together at a hub, and cars, Handi-Vans and buses come to the hub from various routes, or spokes, she said. In Leeward Oahu now, passengers get to the hub on one bus, then catch another to their home communities, Kurisu said.

If it's not necessary to use the system Oahu-wide, the city wants to hear it.

"We need to know that," she said. "At this point we're not locked into anything. I'm taking comments from people."

Thursday night forum attendees filled out forms giving their views. Bus noise was one complaint aired.

One woman said at that forum she doesn't like the hub-and-spoke concept. She would have to transfer from one bus to another and doesn't want to, she said. Express buses are fine, she said.

The park, which already includes an in-line hockey rink, also would eventually boast a soccer field and baseball/softball field. The board wants soccer fields only in the open space, more trees planted and more specifics on parking. One board member said baseballs and softballs would fly into nearby housing or go into a gulch east of the park.

City consultant Bill Chang, principal of an architectural firm, explained the proposed Kaomaaiku Park comfort station is designed to withstand vandalism.

Tony Macawile of the city Department of Design and Construction said $600,000 is already in hand for park amenities. The fully implemented plan would require a total of about $813,000, he said.

Macawile stressed that the proposed open athletic fields would be for practice only, not competition.