City has plan for
Ala Wai parkingResidents are losing about 60 free
spaces to beautification work
City officials plan to open two municipal parking lots in Waikiki to respond to residents' concerns that a $2.4 million beautification project will cut about 60 free parking spots along Ala Wai Boulevard.
City Managing Director Ben Lee said yesterday that the developer of a planned Tusitala Street rental project for seniors has agreed to lease space for a 35-stall parking lot.
Coupled with city plans to put in about 40 stalls near an Aloha Drive parcel, there should be a gain of about 15 additional parking spaces by mid-2005, Lee said.
The Tusitala stalls would sit on a 35,000-square-foot parcel off Ala Wai, where Hawaii Housing Development Corp. plans to build a 107-unit housing apartment for seniors.
The corporation has agreed to build the parking lot if the city agrees to operate and maintain it, Lee said.
He said officials "have not nailed down what the cost (of the lot's lease) to the city would be, but it would be reasonable."
An HHDC official could not be reached for comment last night.
Lee could not say whether the Tusitala Street parking would be free or metered. It is expected to be completed by June or July 2005, he said.
"I think we have an agreement," Lee said, adding that the deal is still in the planning stages.
There are about 250 free parking spaces along the Ala Wai Canal, and between 60 and 70 parking spaces are being removed to put in rounded patches for grass, palm trees and flowers.
The Ala Wai project will extend from the Waikiki-Kapahulu Public Library to about 110 feet before the McCully Street bridge.
The five-month project is expected to start next month, and is part of the city's Waikiki beautification plan, which also includes a $19 million Kuhio Avenue project under way since February.
Several residents have come out against the Ala Wai project, which includes installation of a bike path and concrete landscaping hubs over the boulevard's far right lane.
"It's not just about parking," said Waikiki Neighborhood Board Treasurer Michael Peters. "It's about the permanent removal of a fourth lane. ... Many in Waikiki feel very strongly about not losing that fourth lane of traffic."
Since May the lane has been used for 24-hour parking. But Peters said taking away the option to open it up for traffic could prove a disaster during large events or emergencies.
"People are beginning to notice that with only three lanes, traffic has gotten worse," he said. "This issue is a very big one for Waikiki."
Brian Hann, a board member who cycles to work, said he supports plans to put a bike lane on Ala Wai. But he is conflicted on whether a bike path should come at the cost of a traffic lane.
"In the future, they might want to have that lane available," he said.
To put in the 5-foot-wide bike lane, crews will narrow the width of the boulevard's parking spaces from 12 feet to a little more than 7 feet. The average car is a little less than 6 feet wide.
Lee has said that construction crews will work on the Ala Wai project during nonpeak traffic hours, likely between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. Construction, which is expected to begin in mid-August, could also be done on the weekends.
Lee also said that motorists should expect sections of the boulevard's far right lane to be closed as the project progresses.
