City beats After her request to the city for a crosswalk at Campbell Avenue and Hinano Street had been turned down three times, state Rep. Mindy Jaffe decided to take matters into her own hands.
Rep. Jaffe to
creating crosswalk
She had said she would paint the
stripes herself if the city did notBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comJaffe (R, Diamond Head-Kaimuki-Kapahulu) issued a news release Thursday saying she planned to paint the crosswalk herself tomorrow.
She said she already had rented cones and safety vests and recruited 30 people to help her out.
"I got my paint and my roller, and we were all set to go," she said.
Yesterday, however, the city issued a news release saying the crosswalk had been striped.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said Mayor Jeremy Harris and City Councilman Duke Bainum went down to the intersection yesterday and decided to put a crosswalk in on a one-year trial basis "to see if it helps the situation or whether it would actually add to safety concerns there."
Costa said the city Transportation Services Department had rejected Jaffe's requests, which included letters from Bainum and a constituent, because "certain traffic conditions need to exist before they can put in a crosswalk."
Jaffe said the criteria to add a crosswalk included having two accidents at the intersection.
"Which two of my constituents are going to get hurt or killed before the criteria are met for a crosswalk?" she asked.
Jaffe said it was during her door-to-door campaigning when her constituents, many of them seniors, told her about the dangers of crossing at that intersection to get to the bus stop.
The community had been lobbying for a sidewalk for 10 years.
When she could not get the crosswalk through proper channels, she decided to get it by going through the back door.
Police had warned Jaffe that she would be arrested if she painted the crosswalk herself. Officers in her district went to bat for her in trying to get the crosswalk, she said.
"I know it's against the law. I know it's civil disobedience," she said. "I'm sorry I had to push it so far to get some attention, but if that's what it takes, I'll do it every time."
Costa said she did not know whether Jaffe's decision to paint the crosswalk herself was the reason it was put in yesterday.
"It brought her concerns to the attention of the administration," Costa said.
City & County of Honolulu
