7-year wait for bypass road
angers Maui residents

PAIA, Maui » Store owner Annie McLemore said complaints are increasing among visitors and residents about Hana Highway traffic through the rural town of Paia.

Pricing a bypass Here are the costs of a Paia bypass: » Planning: $2 million » Design: $2.5 million » Right of way: $3 million » Construction: $30 million » Total: $37.5 million Source: State Highways Division

But relief won't be coming immediately as the state plans to finish a bypass road in seven years. That, McLemore said, is "ridiculous."

McLemore said her 16-year-old daughter Elaine, who helps in the family's Paia Trading Co., has to wait about 30 minutes to get through a mile and a half of traffic.

"We need something now," McLemore said.

"I have a lot of old customers. A lot of them don't come anymore. They can't find parking. I hear constant complaints from tourists. They ask, 'Is it always this bad?'"

McLemore is not alone. State senators from Maui on Tuesday called on the state Department of Transportation to speed up its timetable for the planning and construction of the bypass route around Paia Town.

"This bypass should be built as quickly as possible, because the need for it exists now," said Sen. J. Kalani English (D, East Maui-Upcountry-Molokai-Lanai-Kahoolawe).

State officials had initially projected the completion date for 2017 but have updated the schedule, saying the target date is now 2012.

A number of residents point out that during the more than 10 years the bypass has been in discussion, the population in neighboring communities such as Kuau and Haiku has grown by more than 32 percent.

Besides serving as the last major stop on the way to Hana Town, the two-lane coastal road through Paia Town has become the main route to other growing visitor attractions, such as windsurfing at Hookipa and big-wave surfing at Jaws in Peahi.

The Paia bypass would be developed mauka of the town and cost an estimated $37.5 million, with the state paying 20 percent and the federal government taking up the remainder.

The state and county are planning this year to relieve some congestion by building a temporary mini-bypass to redirect Baldwin Avenue-bound traffic from Kahului onto a one-way, one-lane road during rush hour from 4 to 6 p.m.

The mini-bypass route, less than a mile long, would be constructed around the southwest center of Paia 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.

State Transportation Director Rodney Haraga said "if everything goes perfectly," the bypass in Paia could be completed about 2012.

But Haraga said based on national standards, it takes an average of more than five years to complete the planning, including the route and environmental impact statement studies.

"A lot of these dates could be moved up, depending on how fast the planning goes on it," he said.

He said there were also limited state and federal funds for highways and that numerous communities were requesting bypass routes on various islands, including Waianae on Oahu, Kapaa on Kauai and Kailua-Kona in West Hawaii.

"Everybody wants a bypass road," he said.

Haraga said a mini-bypass in Lahaina, scheduled to start construction in a couple of months, will cost about $34 million.

Cindy Nagata Hanscam, manager of Nagata Store in Paia, said she understood that the mini-bypass in Paia was supposed to be temporary, about four to five years, but it now appears one-lane road will be temporary for a longer period.

"It just seems kind of absurd," said Nagata, whose family founded the store about 70 years ago.

William Tavares, a retired school principal who lives in nearby Kuau, said the traffic congestion has reduced the quality of life on what some visitor publications call the "Best Island in the World."

"Let's stop calling Maui the best island in the world until we take care of our basic needs," he said.