Councilman lights debate
over Big Isle traffic signalConcerns over safety surround
the roadway in rural Kurtistown
KURTISTOWN, Hawaii >> This Big Island town is about to get its first traffic light, but a Hawaii County Council member says changing the traffic pattern along rural Highway 11 could have deadly results.
The traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Highway 11 and Huina Road, at the expense of two private landowners who need the signal to satisfy county zoning changes.
Councilman Bob Jacobson doesn't like the idea. He said he'd like to see an upcoming $150,000 county traffic study of the Puna District completed before a decision is made about the traffic light.
"I think the lights just tend to mess everything up," he said. "I just think (the traffic impact) needs to be studied more. I think too much is at stake here. Too many lives will be lost."
Jacobson, who drives the route from South Kona to reach his Hilo office, said Hilo-bound traffic backs up each weekday morning between the area's only other traffic light, near the entrance to Kamehameha Schools' East Hawaii campus, and the intersection where the new signal would be placed. Two people recently died in a car crash along the same stretch of highway, he noted.
Jacobson prefers a channelized intersection at Huina Road, which the state began work on this month. The eight-month project will add two left-turn lanes, square up the intersection with Huina Road and install overhead street lights, said Stanley Tamura, district engineer for the state Highways Division of the Department of Transportation.
A new traffic light would make the intersection safer, Tamura said.
Councilman James Arakaki, whose district includes Kurtistown, agreed.
"I would like to see safety improved over there," Arakaki said. "To me, you need to have a light there."
