Maui officials to raise
crosswalk for safetySerious pedestrian accidents have taken
place at the Makawao and Makani crossing
WAILUKU >> Maui County officials plan to install a raised crosswalk and re-stripe an intersection within a month where two serious pedestrian accidents have occurred this year.
County Public Works Director Gilbert Coloma-Agaran said his department opposed installing a three-way stop sign at Makawao Avenue and Makani Road -- sought by the Maui Police Department because of speeding there.
Coloma-Agaran said that after conducting a study, his department did not feel there was enough traffic on Makani to have the three-way stop.
The Maui County Council Public Works Committee decided yesterday to set aside a proposal to install three-way stop signs and see if the department's plan slows traffic.
Under the public works plan, a raised crosswalk about the height of a speed bump is to be installed over an existing crosswalk on Makawao Avenue on the Pukalani side of the intersection.
The county also plans to re-stripe the intersection to place a crosswalk over Makani Road at Makawao Avenue and to narrow Makawao Avenue at the intersection to slow traffic.
Committee Chairman Michael Molina indicated he will review the changes before fall classes begin at nearby Makawao Intermediate School.
Neighborhood youths cross at the intersection to get to Kalama Intermediate School and sports activities at Eddie Tam Gym and nearby ball fields.
Crossing guard Frank Estrella was hit by a vehicle on Makani Road near Makawao Avenue in March while he was setting up traffic markers in the early afternoon.
Little League baseball player Jordan Tabura, 11, was struck by a vehicle on Makawao Avenue about 3 p.m. May 3 while he was on his way to a ball field near Kalama Intermediate.
Tabura, who returned to school but is not expected to return to play baseball this season, is recovering from a concussion. Estrella is recuperating at home from critical injuries.
Coloma-Agaran's position was supported by the Makawao Main Street Association, a group of businesses mainly located in nearby Makawao Town.
But police Lt. Jeffrey Tanoue said he supported a three-way stop because he felt special conditions existed with children crossing at the intersection.
Tanoue said a permanent solution should eventually be the installation of traffic lights at the intersection, with a button that could be pressed by a pedestrian ready to make a crossing.
Tanoue said that in a two-hour period on Monday, police issued about 40 speeding tickets to motorists traveling in excess of the speed limit of 20 mph.
"As you can see, it's a big problem with speeding vehicles there," Tanoue said. "People are not slowing down."
During the committee meeting, several residents said they feared that without devices to slow traffic, motorists will continue speeding and a fatality will occur at the intersection.
"The problem needs to be addressed before someone gets killed there," said Terry Jones, a Makawao resident.
Jones said she lives along Makawao Avenue about two houses away from Makani Road and hears many crashes.
Karen Mawae-Spence, another Makawao resident, said vehicles speed at 50 mph along Makani Road. Mawae-Spence said she was at the accident involving the 79-year-old crossing guard, and she held his head before emergency medics arrived.
"I never want to be in a position like that again," she said.
"I hope we can have something installed, because it's a dangerous situation."
County of Maui
