Residents want
more police on
deadly highway

Kaukonahua Road has
had 7 fatalities so far this year

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

North Shore residents spoke with one voice last night on two proposals to make Kaukonahua Road safer.

They said no to lowering the speed limit, and no to instituting a no-passing zone on the entire length of the highway.

The residents, some of whom have lost family, friends and neighbors on that stretch of road, said yes to a stronger police presence to slow down drivers.

Reactions were mixed on long-term proposals to improve the two-lane highway between Waialua and Wahiawa.

The highway has seen seven deaths in five accidents this year, including one that killed three Mililani High School seniors April 12.

In the past seven years, there were 17 fatal accidents, police report. And in the past five years, 151 major accidents have occurred, three per month.

During a crackdown on speeders since last month's fatal crash, police said they issued 1,211 speeding tickets on Kaukonahua Road.

"Speed is the problem on that road," one resident said at a community meeting last night. "All that money to dress it up, you ain't going to solve the problem. The problem is the road is dangerous to start with."

About 65 residents came from Waialua, Haleiwa, Mokuleia, Wahiawa to the meeting at Haleiwa Elementary School to testify and listen to a city consultant hired to come up with proposals to make the road safer.

"No way." "You crazy," was the reaction from residents when the consultant explained a proposal to reduce the speed limit on Kaukonahua Road from 45 mph to 35 mph and from 35 mph to 25 mph.

City Councilwoman Rene Mansho suggested that $400,000 budgeted for near-term Kaukonahua Road improvements may be better off spent on increased police presence.

Police Maj. William Gulledge said he would like to continue to have two officers posted on the road, but is having to use officers working overtime.

Chad Nacapuy, a 24-year-old teacher and a Waialua resident, suggested to make Kaukonahua Road a one-way highway, which met with strong disapproval from others.

One short-term safety feature the city proposed was to put in more guardrails, but most in attendance opposed the measure.

"What you have created is a pool table," said one man. He pointed out that the driver in the triple fatality crash hit a guardrail and bounced back into oncoming traffic. "He had no place to go. You put us in jeopardy. You gonna create more problems. It creates more hazards."

"I seen a lotta deaths, a lotta accidents," said former Waialua firefighter Dan Gora, 73.

He supports widening the road and eliminating the trees planted along the edge of the highway. Several at the meeting, however, objected to cutting the trees down for aesthetic reasons.

Most in attendance agreed with the long-term plans to straighten the road, realign the bad "S" curves.

The city's consultants will take the suggestions from the community modify their proposals if necessary.

Mansho said improvements to the road will cost $1 million to $2 million for medium-range and $2 to $6 million for the long-range proposals, money not currently available.

Many in the audience like Thora-Jean Cuaresma, who grew up in Haleiwa, have grown frustrated over the years.

"I had a teacher killed on that road in high school. You're telling us what you're gonna do. Tell us when are you gonna do it.