Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I live in the Lalea townhouses in Hawaii Kai. There is a lot of speeding up and down Mariner's Ridge and down Hawaii Kai Drive toward the entrance of Lalea during all hours of the day and night. Cars come speeding down Hawaii Kai Drive and turn left up Kaluanui Road (the road up Mariner's Ridge) without yielding to oncoming cars. On several occasions, members of my family have almost been hit by speeding cars making the left turn right in front of us. Also, cars coming down Mariner's Ridge sometimes do not make a full and complete stop before turning right onto Hawaii Kai Drive, causing several near misses. I believe that making the intersection of Ehu Wai Place, Kaluanui Road and Hawaii Kai Drive a four-way stop would alleviate some of the problems and also increasing police visibility. Any suggestions? Speeding drivers
causing frustration
in Hawaii KaiAnswer: The city Department of Transportation Services will conduct a traffic study, which will include a review of traffic and pedestrian counts, to determine if an all-way stop is necessary.
Officials understand your concerns about speeding and motorists failing to yield the right-of-way or of stopping in the area, said Transportation Director Cheryl Soon. But a review of the traffic accident history for the past two years "did not indicate an accident problem," she said.
Also, Soon said a field investigation showed there are appropriate traffic control signs and markings in the area.
It's just that motorists aren't heeding them.
However, police do frequently monitor the area and recently issued four speeding citations, said officer Paul Nakajo of HPD's East Honolulu District.
Q: It's now 1:30 in the afternoon and the water has been on at Aliamanu Park since this morning. We are all worried about wasting water. Why don't they just water for one hour instead of wasting water for four or five hours?
A: The water was not on for several hours, although it may have seemed that way, said Craig Mayeda, administrator for the city Department of Parks and Recreation's Maintenance and Recreation Services Division.
However, to make sure such overwatering doesn't happen, the groundskeeper assigned to that park "has been counseled," he said. She "is very aware of the need to conserve water" while at the same time working to achieve the department's goal of having a green park, he said.
Mayeda explained that Aliamanu Neighborhood Park was built in sections. One section has manually-controlled sprinklers -- with a dozen or more sprinklers on one line -- which the groundskeeper turns on one valve at a time.
The rest of the park has "quick couplers," in which someone has to manually connect a sprinkler to each station. "We are able to turn on maybe two or three stations at a time," Mayeda said.
He said that's probably what you saw in the afternoon. Asked why there was watering in the middle of the day, he said that the timing can't be helped because the groundskeeper is in charge of two parks, watering the other park in the morning. The alternative is for the department to bring her in at night, which is not feasible, he said.
Mayeda also said each watering station is probably on for less than one hour.
"If you see the exact same one on, there may be a problem," he said. But because there have been so many sprinkler heads stolen, the groundskeeper tends to stay at the park until the watering is done.
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