Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
City almost ready to
start work on second
road into WaianaeQuestion: Whatever happened to plans to build an emergency access road through Waianae?
Answer: Cheryl Soon, city transportation director, said the city is now finalizing land transfers for two parcels along the 8-mile route on the Waianae coast, and is on the verge of starting construction.
The route will be created by connecting existing streets with some new roadway sections. Most of the existing sections will be upgraded.
As the only access through the area, Farrington Highway has been subject to massive traffic jams due to holiday travel, a water main break in 2000 that flooded the road, and a hostage situation in 1999 that left thousands of residents stranded for hours while police negotiated with the suspect.
According to Cynthia Rezentes, former chairman and current member of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board, the alternate route would generally "connect the backs of the valleys: Nanakuli, Lualualei, Waianae and Makaha." The route was chosen after meetings with the community based on what would be the "least costly, involve the least construction, and be the least intrusive," she said.
Soon said an environmental assessment has been completed for the entire route. One section along the Kaluwaha and Mahinaau Roads was recently re-routed and redesigned because of a cultural burial issue, she said.
Some sections will be widened so that two buses can pass each other going in opposite directions in the case of the need for evacuation. Other sections will get street lighting for the first time and be repaved, she added.
About $8.5 million has been budgeted for the project, Soon said.
The emergency road will also allow cars to return to Farrington Highway in case just one or two sections of the highway are closed. Connectors will include the following:
Nanakuli makai: from Pokakunui Ave. through Nanakuli Beach Park to Nanakuli Ave.; Helelua Place: from the end of Helelua Place to Lualualei Naval Road; Paakea Road: from Lualualei Naval Road to Hakimo Road; Pakeke/Hakimo: Hakimo Road to Pakeke Street; Kaluwaha/ Mahinaau: Ala Hema Street to Kaulawaha Road.
"Over the past year we have been getting agreements with the State Historic Preservation Office, shoreline management permits, and land transfer matters worked out so we can start construction. We had to work with over 30 landowners to accomplish what was needed. Land transfer for one or two properties is in the final stages, which is the last item to finalize so that construction can begin," she said.
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