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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
No easy answer to traffic
along Lunalilo StreetQuestion: On Lunalilo Street, between Piikoi and the entrance to the H-1 freeway, heading westbound, there are three lanes: the left-turning left lane onto Pensacola; the middle lane heading to the freeway; and the right lane going toward Ward Avenue. I was there at 4 p.m. one day in the middle lane, which was backed up with cars, with only two cars passing the intersection with every light change. That was because a lot of cars zoomed in from the right lane at the last moment. I was furious because I patiently waited my turn. Normally, I let other people cut in front of me to be courteous or to take turns, but this was too outrageous and potentially unsafe. Can't police supervise the area from time to time or put in a double line on the right lane to prevent people from crossing over? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind people crossing over, but I don't think it's fair in this situation because it's so overly abused.
Answer: Officers regularly are posted in that area during peak afternoon traffic hours because it is such a "choke point," said police Capt. Ed Nishi, of the Honolulu Police Department's District 1.
He noted the problem not only of motorists cutting in line, but blocking the intersection of Piikoi and Lunalilo, and blocking the extreme left lane of Lunalilo as they wait for a space in the Makiki post office parking lot.
Police have spoken to the post office about the problem, Nishi said, but despite the fact that there is "a lot of parking" in another postal lot across Pensacola, people don't want to make the extra effort.
As much as possible, officers do monitor the area and will respond to calls, he said.
"We do treat traffic as a priority," Nishi said. "Traffic management is a priority."
As for painting solid double lines, the state Department of Transportation's Traffic Branch nixes that idea because it would have "negative impacts" beyond preventing motorists turning left from Piikoi in the right-most lane to cut left.
Plus, DOT officials say "such controls are only effective if motorists obey the rules of the road."
This is the situation as explained by DOT:
For motorists turning from the left-most lane on Piikoi, there is a solid line to indicate motorists are not allowed to change lanes to the right in order to get to the freeway.
Installing a double solid line for motorists turning from the right-most lane would make it very difficult or prevent motorists from the numerous driveways located on the mauka side of Lunalilo Street to turn onto Pensacola and/or access the freeway, according to the DOT.
"Therefore, we do not recommend installing a double solid line at this time," officials said.
Mahalo
To Tracy and the staff at Lex Brodie's on Queen Street. While reading the paper and waiting for my car to be serviced, my wallet must have slipped out of my pocket. After I left with my car and before I realized my wallet was missing, Tracy had already called my home and left a message that they had found it and were holding it in their cash box. They took a bad situation and turned it into a positive one! -- B. Young
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