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Community, officials
to discuss preventing
pedestrian deaths

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Kalihi-Palama leaders and city transportation officials will meet next Tuesday to discuss ways to prevent another pedestrian fatality near the North King Street and Peterson Lane intersection.

Taisi Fatanu, 68, was struck by a van and killed after attempting to cross King Street near the intersection Friday morning. He was not in a marked crosswalk.

Neighbors, including those with the Kalihi-Palama Health Center, say there have been a number of pedestrian accidents in the area over the years and they have tried without success to get a traffic light installed.

May Akamine, executive director of the health center, said transportation officials have told her in the past that studies indicate a traffic light is not warranted based on the foot traffic, two nearby traffic lights and the lack of any previous fatal accidents.

Akamine said numerous people cross King Street each day and many aren't willing to walk to the traffic signals at Palama Street or Kokea Street.

The area is densely populated with businesses and residents, not to mention the nearby Kaiulani Elementary School and Kaumakapili Church. Bus stops are on both sides of the street near where the man was killed, she said.

Akamine said her clinic may have added to the foot traffic when it expanded across the street from its original facility on the makai side. The clinic serves nearly 14,000 patients.

Cheryl Soon, transportation services director, visited the accident scene Sunday and agreed to meet with Akamine and the community next week.

"We have a number of suggestions we will be sharing with the community," Soon said. As for whether she now supports a traffic light in the middle of the block, she said "I'm open to the dialogue."

Charlotte White, principal of nearby Kaiulani Elementary, said she "cringes" each morning for the safety of her 470 students. "The traffic is very heavy on King Street," she said.

While Akamine and White both would like to see the city put up a traffic signal, they think other things can be done to improve the hazardous conditions.

Akamine suggested better striping of streets and better placement of flashing lights warning motorists to slow down.

Both women also advocated more education for pedestrians and motorists passing through.

In 1998, the city installed a traffic signal on South King Street fronting McKinley High School -- between signals at Pensacola and Victoria streets -- following a pedestrian accident that injured two students. The distance between Pensacola and Victoria streets is shorter than that between Kokea and Palama streets.