Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Parking meters
should work as usual
Question: I frequently go to the courthouse at 777 Punchbowl St. and park on Halekauwila or Pohukaina streets. Usually, if there is time left on the meter, adding coins adds to the time. However, the meters apparently were changed so that adding coins only gives the time allotted to the coins. So if an hour was existing on the meter, adding a quarter took me 'back down' to only 30 minutes. Is this appropriate? If it is, then what is the "grace period" for adding coins so that the time is cumulative (e.g. fumbling around for coins and ending up with only 30 minutes with two quarters if I don't put them in quickly enough, etc.)?Answer: No changes have been made to any of the city's parking meters, according to Ron Shimabukuro, the city's parking meter repair supervisor.
"If it shows an hour, on a two-hour meter, and you put a quarter in, it'll give you an hour and a half. If you put another quarter in, it should give you two hours," he said.
Call his office at 832-7836 with the identification numbers of the meters and someone will check them out. (If a parking violation citation is involved, you should follow the instructions for contesting the ticket on the citation form, he said.)
Shimabukuro noted that in mechanical meters, which have "winding rings," there are so-called dead spots. If there is only about a minute left on those "winding rings," if you put a nickel in for three minutes, "it will only give you three minutes, it won't give you four minutes," he said.
That's not the case in electronic meters, which are "more state of the art."
Although the meters along Halekauwila and Pohukaina are mechanical, Shimabukuro said it's "highly unlikely" two different meters would malfunction in the manner you described.
Update on Hawaii Kai traffic stop
The city Department of Transportation Services said it would do a traffic study to determine if an all-way stop was necessary at the intersection of Kaluanui Road, Ehu Wai Place and Hawaii Kai Drive in response to complaints about speeding (Kokua Line, Nov. 1, 2001).DTS recently informed Kokua Line that such a stop was not warranted, based on traffic and pedestrian volumes, traffic accident reports and field observations.
Police are aware of concerns about speeding and motorists failing to properly yield or stop at this intersection and will continue to monitor the area, DTS director Cheryl Soon said. She noted that several other communities have worked with the Honolulu Police Department to curb speeding and suggested Hawaii Kai residents contact HPD's District 7, at 529-3362, to come up with alternative solutions.
She also said speeding concerns can be addressed through the city's traffic calming program. City Council members select neighborhoods in their district that have expressed concerns about speeding and that may benefit from traffic calming measures, such as roundabouts, speed tables and sidewalk extensions. Hawaii Kai residents should contact Councilman John Henry Felix.
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