Traffic death
haunts Waianae

Area leaders say they are frustrated by
the slow pace in making the highway safer

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

A Waianae man says a crash in which his brother was killed could have been prevented if the state had installed median barriers to block vehicles from crossing the center line of Farrington Highway.

"If it was up, I don't think this would have happened," said Clarence Adams. "It's going to continue to happen."

Cleighton Adams was on his way to Maili Beach Park for an Easter egg hunt with his family when the crash occurred two-tenths of a mile west of Hakimo Road Saturday morning. A 26-year-old man driving a car Makaha-bound on Farrington crossed the center line and struck a town-bound pickup truck. The pickup truck then was pushed into a collision with Adams' pickup truck.

Police arrested the 26-year-old man for multiple offenses. Alcohol was a factor in the accident, police said. The case remains under investigation.

Last week, Gov. Linda Lingle released the state's share of $8 million in safety improvement projects that include installation of temporary concrete median barriers on a 1-mile stretch of Farrington from Hakimo to Kaukama roads.

Waianae community leaders and residents said they are frustrated after hearing about another traffic fatality happening over the weekend on the deadly stretch of Farrington Highway.

Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said officials will put the safety improvement projects to bid next month and select a contractor during the summer. The installation of the median barriers is expected to start in the fall, Ishikawa said.

The concrete barriers will be about 3 feet high and are similar to the barriers of the Zip Lane on the H-1 freeway.

Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua) said her top priority this year has been a request for $25 million from the administration that would go toward planning, design and construction of the stretch of highway from Hakimo to Kaukama roads, to make it safer.

"To me, this is the worst area," said Hanabusa, who has been working for years to alleviate the number of major traffic accidents on the highway. "It needs new engineering."

Hanabusa added that she was under the impression that the median barriers were to be installed last year.

"Gov. Lingle pointed out last week that the Leeward Coast hasn't always gotten the funding they deserved, and the administration is trying to change that by releasing the project money," Ishikawa said.

Cleighton Adams, better known as "Pono" by friends and loved ones, was described as a quiet, intelligent family man. He worked at the Pearl Harbor planning department for more than 10 years. He was also a deacon and a Sunday school teacher for the Waianae Faith Pentecostal Mission during the 1980s. In addition to his 9-year-old son, Cleighton had three daughters, from a previous marriage.

Rep. Michael Kahikina (D, Kalaeloa-Nanakuli) said Adams was a classmate when he attended Nanaikapono Elementary School. Kahikina said they grew up in Nanakuli Homestead and played football together.

"I'm very disturbed by this," Kahikina said. "Our highways are a death trap."