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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Sprinklers programmed
to water while park is openQuestion: Why do they start the sprinklers before the park closes at Central Oahu Regional Park? Our family was enjoying an early evening picnic on July 5 at the park, when suddenly all the sprinklers went on, and forcefully I might add. There were lots of people at the park because it was still light. We all got soaked, including our baby, and had to scramble to pack everything up and run for our car. Not a very pleasant way to end our outing. Do they do this on purpose to empty the park by closing time?
Answer: The sprinklers are programmed to go on in the early evening because the Board of Water Supply encourages watering during the evenings, when there is less evaporation, according to city parks officials.
The park is open until 10 p.m.
Asked why the watering is done when people are still allowed in the park, the answer was that there isn't enough time during the closed hours to adequately water the 265-acre park without extending into the daylight hours.
During especially dry and hot days, the irrigation system will run until early the next morning.
Parks officials say they have tried to modify the sprinklers so that the watering doesn't impact the areas where most people congregate, such as the baseball, softball and tennis areas.
They surmise you may have been picnicking in "one of the fringe areas."
They apologized for what happened to your family, saying, "We do not turn on the sprinklers to try and get people to leave the park."
Q: A number of people who make the afternoon commute from town to the Ewa side of the island have the same question: Can you explain why construction is being done on the H-1 Freeway from the Kaonohi overpass to the Kaahumanu overpass instead of before that area? I know it's being done to widen the lanes to help alleviate traffic, particularly in the late afternoons, but that's the area where traffic actually opens up. The real "bottleneck" is from the Halawa merge to the Kaonohi overpass, so it seems like it would make more sense to widen that area instead.
A: You bring up a valid point about the bottleneck after the Halawa Interchange, acknowledged Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
But he first pointed out that the H-1, between Halawa and Kaonohi, had been widened to six lanes in the 1990s.
"This current $55 million, 18-month project will continue those six lanes Ewa-bound to the Pearl City off-ramp," he explained.
After the Halawa Interchange, the H-1, H-3 and Moanalua freeways merge, just about where the H-1 reduces from six lanes to five.
"By widening the freeway to six lanes an additional mile and a half to the Pearl City exit, we hope to push the traffic further away from that bottleneck," Ishikawa said. "The sixth lane will also allow Pearl City exit users to stay in the far right lane to the off-ramp, instead of cutting back over with the rest of traffic."
Q: The pedestrian walkway on the Ewa side of the Liliha Street overpass over the freeway is starting to severely buckle and poses a threat to someone tripping and perhaps falling over the railing. Can something be done to replace the concrete walkway panels that are buckling?
A: It's been a couple of months since you asked the question and we finally have the answer: Yes, something is being done.
The state Department of Transportation's Bridge crew was supposed to have begun making repairs last week.
"The overpass itself is in no danger of falling down," according to DOT officials, but they acknowledge there could be a tripping hazard if the sidewalk is uneven.
Auwe
To the lack of clear lane markings on the H-1 Freeway. Some of the half-dome circles and lane markings are missing, especially near the Sears Distribution Center. I hope the state Department of Transportation will put more reflective markings on the road so that we can see the lanes better at night and when it rains. They're hard to make out, especially at night. -- No Name(You should have noticed clearer lane markings by now.
(The DOT began restriping and adding new reflectors along that stretch of the H-1 -- roughly the Pearl City offramp to the Waiawa Interchange -- starting the week of July 12, according to spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
(It began first with the town-bound lanes, then started with the Ewa-bound lanes last week, he said.
("We are trying to do a lot of various maintenance work at night," he added.)
Mahalo
About 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 9, my grown son and I were attempting to cross Nimitz Highway at the dangerous crossing fronting Flora Dec, where cars came at such speed around a curve that both of us were forced to backpedal on our bikes.At one point, my son fell. Amazingly, the cars all stopped, all four lanes of them, and they not only stopped until we were safely back on the curve where we started, but were obviously waiting for us to try it again!
I waved them on, but we were impressed at their obvious gallantry and aloha spirit. There were no honking, catcalls, or hand gestures even from drivers in the back, and there must have been a score of cars all together. Eventually, we backtracked to a safer spot and got across.
Both my son and I wish to take off our hats to these wonderful drivers, who all had the spirit of aloha in them.
Auwe, however, to the city for putting a crosswalk right where there's such a dangerous curve with visibility of incoming cars nil. We are now alerted to this danger, but someday some unsuspecting pedestrian is going to get creamed there. -- David Yasuo Henna
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