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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Not all trees are
acceptable at city parksQuestion: How do I proceed to get more trees planted at my neighborhood city park? Are there guidelines and restrictions? Who should I speak to? Does the City and County of Honolulu have a nursery of starter trees and plants to use, or would I need to supply my own? I have two healthy 6-year-old Norfolk pines and one 12-foot coconut tree that I'd like to donate. Would I need to commit to any maintenance?
Answer: Call the city Department of Parks & Recreation's Division of Urban Forestry at 971-7151 for information on how you might have more trees planted at a park and about how donations are handled.
The division has its own nursery, but it does accept donated trees, under strict criteria.
It also has a list of approved trees.
Among the factors considered when planting or accepting a tree are how the tree will be maintained, where the water source is, how it will affect the park when fully matured and how it will affect neighbors.
Although it is not a requirement, the department would like a donor to provide maintenance to a newly planted tree to help ensure a healthy growth, said parks Director William Balfour.
Q: The intersection of Lunalilo and Piikoi streets is almost always crowded because cars turning left from Piikoi to take the H-1 freeway, Ewa-bound, block the intersection, causing traffic coming off the Lunalilo Street offramp to back up. Has the city considered reversing the traffic flow on Pensacola and Piikoi Streets (have traffic go makai on Piikoi and mauka on Pensacola), and if so, what has been the result? A friend's relative mentioned it to me recently and said he never understood why that was never implemented.
A: The Star-Bulletin reported last Thursday how the state Department of Transportation is looking at several old proposals to unclog Honolulu's roadways, among them reversing the traffic flow on Piikoi and Pensacola streets.
Although the two streets are under city jurisdiction, Lunalilo Street, which connects the two and leads to the H-1 onramp, is under the jurisdiction of the DOT.
The reversal has been debated since shortly after Piikoi was made one-way mauka and Pensacola one-way makai in 1970.
As recently as a year ago, the city balked at reversing the flow, which has been recommended by the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and had the support of the DOT.
However, city transportation officials are now willing to at least consider the switch.
Cheryl Soon, director of the city Department of Transportation, told "Kokua Line" that her department has agreed to work with the DOT to re-evaluate a 1991 study recommending reversing the traffic flow on Piikoi and Pensacola.
That will entail both a "technical feasibility review" as well as public input, she said, but gave no details.
When asked why the city had changed its position, Soon said she had "nothing further to say at this time."
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Useful phone numbers
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com