State pleased with
Lunalilo plan
Residents and drivers will be
surveyed about the onramp closure
The state Transportation Department will survey thousands of motorists next month to determine whether a month-old project -- which closes down the Lunalilo Street onramp to morning commuters -- is working to ease congestion on the H-1 freeway.
State officials are already behind the project, saying it has succeeded in lessening backup in the area. But data on the change has not yet been compiled.
"The section near Lunalilo seems to be flowing pretty well," said Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "We feel it's working."
Since early August, drivers using the Lunalilo ramp from 6 to 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday have been routed to the Punchbowl Street onramp via Vineyard Boulevard.
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White poles were put up to separate motorists coming up the ramp from Lunalilo Street from those exiting the freeway on the Vineyard onramp. The separation prevents any "criss-crossing" of cars, which backs up traffic.
Surveys on the project will be handed out in early October at key intersections, where drivers affected by the change are likely to be found. The handouts will also be mailed to some Makiki residents, Ishikawa said.
"We want to get a fair analysis of what's working and what's not," he said. "From there we can analyze and make a decision."
Many Makiki area residents were concerned that the project would push motorists to use alternate routes, jamming Punahou Street and Wilder Avenue.
But Makiki/Lower Punchbowl/Tantalus Neighborhood Board member John Steelquist said there has been little effect on "peripheral traffic."
"It seems a little heavier on Punahou and Wilder but not devastatingly so," he said. "So far, it seems to be working OK. It's definitely not as bad as we had feared."
The $200,000 demonstration project is set to end Oct. 29, before which the Transportation Department is expected to announce whether the change will become permanent.
Ishikawa has said that about 4,000 cars an hour are on the Lunalilo and Vineyard ramps during weekday mornings. Before the project began, he said, the Punchbowl onramp had been underutilized.
