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Add more greenery
to Waialae, say
residents

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By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Some residents are not pleased with a scaled-down beautification project recently completed along a portion of Waialae Avenue under the freeway near Kahala Mall.

"Beautification project meaning the rocks they planted?" asked Susan Spangler, a resident of Kahala's Ulumaika Street. "I'm not terribly impressed."

Ronald Tsuzuki, acting administrator of the state Highways Division, said: "There's probably some work to be done to establish some of the plants."

Additional greenery was called for in an earlier plan, but that plan was modified. The idea in 1995 was to plant greenery for the entire Waialae Avenue stretch under the freeway between 21st and Kilauea avenues.

But in the block under the freeway from 21st Avenue to Hunakai Street, rocks are in place without greenery on the mauka side.

Spangler said there's not enough sunlight under the freeway, and plantings that also went in are already dying.

"It's only been a month. I just don't hold much hope for the plantings there," she said. "The state Department of Transportation doesn't want to plant anything that would require maintenance, and they would just as soon plant rocks."

"It would be nice if they could work with the community and put in things that have been recommended by the community. The neighborhood board started this project," Spangler said. "They made some wonderful recommendations, and then, of course, it was all disregarded. We'd like to have it beautified, but beautification is not only in planting. It takes some care."

Kathleen Gibson of Hunakai Street expected to see extended greenery.

"All I see is rocks," she said. "I don't know how much maintenance was going to be accounted for and how much would grow in that dark area.

"I would like it better if there were more green and more living stuff," she said.

Alice Thomas, also a Hunakai Street resident, was somewhat puzzled. "I haven't been taking that much notice of it, but it seems it's going to be rocks," she said.

"Not too much growing," she added. "Why not more green?"

"It's taking several months for the plantings to grow," said Linda Letta, chairwoman of the Waialae-Kahala Neighborhood Board.

It doesn't look now the way it will eventually look, and not everyone will like the present or future look, she said.

"I think there's mixed feelings but we tried to get the best of what the state was able to offer," Letta said.

State people talked about this possibly being a first phase, she added. "Maybe more can be done at a later time; I don't think anybody is entirely happy," Letta said.

Kahala resident Sheila Gold doesn't think the end result is all that bad. "I guess overall I'm pleased with the project," she said. "It is a scaled-down version, but it's certainly much more attractive than what we had before."

Lucinda Pyles, a member of the city's Kaimuki/Palolo/Waialae-Kahala Visioning Team, was philosophical. "I think that what they planted is an improvement," she said.

What happens with so many nicely landscaped highway projects is they deteriorate with plants dying in two or three years from inadequate maintenance, she said. Maintenance is her real concern, Pyles added.

"It certainly looks better than what was there before," she said. "I think nobody wanted to see all rocks, and the state did respond when the community got up in arms about putting all rocks down on the mauka side -- and I think that was a good thing."