Paia residents
consider mini-bypassA hearing tonight will discuss a proposal
for a one-lane road to relieve rush-hour traffic
PAIA, Maui >> In a quiet beach neighborhood on Maui, commuter vehicles sometimes speed on residential streets in Spreckelsville during afternoon rush hour to avoid back-to-back traffic on nearby Hana Highway.
"You'll be out there and cars go whipping by," said Betty Jo Boren, a Spreckelsville resident. "It's dangerous for kids on bicycles."
Boren and a number of other Maui residents hope a plan to develop a "mini-bypass" across part of nearby Paia town will help to redirect rush-hour traffic.
A meeting about the proposed "mini-bypass" is scheduled for 7 tonight at the Paia Community Center.
Residents traveling along Hana Highway through Paia say they've noticed a drastic change in the pace of traffic over the past eight years.
What once was a 10-minute drive through Paia has turned into a 30-minute wait in back-to-back traffic more than a mile long.
Keri Stewart, owner of Anthony's Coffee Co. in Paia, said some of the additional traffic is due to more residents living in neighboring communities of Kuau and Haiku.
Stewart said another contributing factor is an increasing awareness of Paia as a visitor destination and a growing interest in visiting surfing areas north of the town, such as Hookipa Beach Park and "Jaws" in Peahi.
Under the proposal, most Kahului traffic up Baldwin Avenue through Paia town would be re-directed onto a one-lane road during afternoon rush hour.
The one-lane road, less than a mile long, would be constructed around the southwest center of Paia and extend from Hana Highway on the Kahului side of the town's municipal parking lot to Baldwin Avenue, makai of the Patsy Takemoto Mink federal post office.
Fred Cajigal, the state highways manager on Maui, said the one-lane road would be open from 4 to 6 p.m., excluding weekends and holidays.
Cajigal said the project is estimated to cost $650,000 and could be completed by this fall.
Alexander & Baldwin Inc. would remain the owner of the road and contribute $65,000, the county would pay $100,000, and the state, $472,000, Cajigal said.
He said a draft environmental assessment has been developed.
The state has also selected a consultant to plan the larger Paia Bypass, a major highway project that would go farther south around Paia and further inland, mauka of the former plantation mill.
Makawao resident Elisia Valentine, who frequently uses Baldwin Avenue, said she'd like to see the state quicken the development of the Paia Bypass, and is doubtful the mini-bypass will significantly reduce traffic.
Valentine said traffic along Baldwin is already slow during afternoon rush hour, and she fears it may worsen with another turn added to the road.
"It's only going to cause more traffic," she said.
The comment period for the environmental assessment about the mini-bypass runs until April 7.
Comments should be sent to Gilbert Coloma-Agaran, Department of Public Works and Environmental Management, 200 S. High St., Wailuku, Hawaii 96793.