Tear down highways, then build rail system
Regarding the Oct. 7 Kokua Line column ("DOT assesses Vineyard jams after offramp"): This is just another Band-Aid non-solution to an ever increasing problem.The freeways were underdesigned in the first place. Access streets, cross-overs and cross-unders are required. What no one wants to face is the cost and necessity to rebuild the Honolulu freeway system.
Apparently, acquisition of rights-of-way along the freeway routes was underfunded in the beginning, and it has never been dealt with since then.
Freeways in Hawaii just don't measure up to freeways in densely populated, metropolitan areas on the mainland.
The problem will only continue to get worse, and these half-hearted solutions will become overwhelmed as well.
Rail systems may look snazzy, but the real problem is moving private automobiles around efficiently. The city and state need to agree to either tear down the H-1 and H-2 and rebuild correctly, or restrict all private automobile access to the business districts as they do in Singapore. That will then require a fixed-rail system.
Kurtistown, Hawaii
Islanders provided great entertainment
After three wonderful years, the demise of The Hawaiian Islanders comes as both a shock and disappointment to this fan.I applaud the efforts of Kimberly and Chris Dey for making a valiant attempt to keep the Islanders going. I would also like to thank them for giving us a quality product with great entertainment value.
As a business person, I understand the need for fiscal responsibility and am impressed that they survived as long as they did with limited community support. I'd also like to thank those businesses that supported the team.
I look forward to arena football making a return to Hono-lulu someday. My real hope is that when it does, the community at large will get behind a professional team so that we can enjoy watching the local boys play at home.
Kailua
Who will bear cost of waterfront project?
An Oct. 15 editorial regarding the development agreement for Piers 5 and 6 says "redevelopment of the state-owned property will be beneficial for Hawaii in the long run." I would suggest this view is premature.Judging from the renderings, this project hinders, if not destroys, visual and public access to the bay and requires significant public improvements that are proposed to be paid for via public bond issuance.
The editorial correctly notes that Nimitz Highway leaves much to be desired as a thoroughfare. So the "trolley to downtown" will be using what right of way? And will the trolley exacerbate traffic congestion? What environmental work has been done to assess the impact of a trolley on surrounding properties and traffic patterns?
The underground bypass is novel; what engineering has been done to assure cost estimates adequacy, including utility relocation and construction below the water table?
For the power plant, what site remediation will be required, and where are the engineering projections and environmental tests to prove accuracy of the cost estimates? Since no alternative site is approved, it is impossible to estimate total cost. What rationale exists here to support public financing?
The developer and those living in the rich-folk dwelling units are the ones who will benefit from this project. They should assume the cost of necessary public improvements.
Kailua
Don't let development overpower the tower
Your Oct. 13 article, "State acts to remake downtown waterfront," included an artist's conception of the site. I noticed that Aloha Tower was not in the drawing. How can we conceptualize the plan without the tower? The surrounding buildings look like they are about five or six stories, but without the tower in place it is difficult to tell. The development sounds exciting, but care must be given that the tower remains the focal point of the area. To preserve its stature, no structure should be higher than half the towers' height. Putting anything higher would be like putting a high-rise next to the Statue of Liberty.
Kaneohe
Democrats take credit when it isn't due
Democratic Party Chairman Brickwood Galuteria contends that Democrats should be credited for lowering many of the registration fees that businesses must pay ("People deserve to know the real Democratic Party," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 3).However, anybody who has spent time at the Legislature in the last two years knows that the Lingle-Aiona administration has taken the lead in cutting business registration fees.
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Business Registration division assesses business registration fees. Under Governor Cayetano, each of the division's registration fees was doubled. As a result, the division's revenues increased from $3.07 million in fiscal year 1996 to $7.16 million in 1997.
Under Governor Lingle, the division will have cut registration filing fees by more than $2.5 million by the end of the current fiscal year, including cuts to online and standard filing fees for new business registration, annual filings and certificates of good standing.
Galuteria further notes that the self-sufficient DCCA was, "in fact, the creation of a Democratic department head working under our past governor." This is certainly a good reminder -- for the Democrats.
Neither Governor Lingle nor I have ever taken credit for DCCA's self-sufficiency. To the contrary, I have acknowledged my predecessors' role in developing that structure. So it is ironic that it was the Democrat-controlled Legislature, only this past session, that tried to strip the department of its self-sufficiency (Senate Bill 2525). It took the governor's veto of that bill to stop it. We take it from Galuteria's comments that the Democrats now recognize the folly of that legislation.
Director
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Kicking need for oil is nearly impossible
In an Oct. 6 letter, David Kindenpack complained about the U.S. dependency on foreign oil sources. Whenever I hear this complaint, I ask the person "So do you support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve?" People usually give an appalled response, yet these same people drive cars, use plastics, detergents and other products made from petro-leum. So I'm not sure what they think the solution is.Surely no one escapes the use of fossil fuels and their byproducts. My prediction is that entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists will develop alternate fuels when we run out of fossil fuels, when it becomes too expensive to process fossil fuels or more profitable to manufacture an alternate fuel.
Honolulu
Tidy firefighters made highways sparkle
A heartfelt thank you to Hono-lulu firefighters for their community service. They picked up and bagged the trash along the freeway and highways in Waipahu. The roadways look neat.
Mililani
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