Residents furious
state will keep
Lunalilo onramp
modification
The state's decision to make a morning modification of the Lunalilo Street onramp permanent caused tempers to flare at a meeting last night, with concerned residents from Makiki and Manoa calling the process unfair and disputing the results of a survey favorable to the project.
"That is so rude," Makiki resident Diane Chong shouted, pounding her fists on a table after state Transportation Director Rod Haraga announced the project aimed at easing congestion on the H-1 freeway would continue.
"It was unfair. It was totally unfair."
Since early August, drivers using the Lunalilo ramp weekdays from 6 to 9:30 a.m. have been routed to the Punchbowl Street onramp via Vineyard Boulevard. The nine-month pilot project cost about $200,000.
Once it is in full swing -- and possibly mechanized -- the modification will cost about $10,000 a month, Haraga said.
Many said the results of a survey released yesterday that showed 47 percent of respondents thought traffic on the H-1 freeway was faster since the project started failed to tell the whole story.
"People have already shifted their habits," said Makiki resident Fred Nakahara, who added that he has had to leave earlier and change his drive route to get to his job in Mapunapuna on time.
Others also said that the survey should have focused on Makiki and Manoa residents and not included East Honolulu residents.
But Haraga said the results of the survey, mailed to about 15,000 people from downtown to Hawaii Kai, prove that the project is working.
He also said he would address some of the concerns with the project, such as extending the "green time" of a traffic light at Punchbowl and Vineyard where motorists turn right to get onto the onramp. The turn cannot be made when the light is red.
The SMS Research survey, which cost the state $16,800, showed that:
» About 58 percent of residents from Kaimuki to Aina Haina and 61 percent of Hawaii Kai residents believe that traffic is faster on the H-1 freeway thanks to the project.
» More than 56 percent of those surveyed said the state should continue the rerouting, while about 10 percent said it should be discontinued and 33 percent were neutral.
» And 26 percent of residents said the modification was "very positive," while 6 percent said it was negative and 3.5 percent said it was "very negative."
The highest response rate to the SMS survey came from residents from Kaimuki to Aina Haina, where about 26 percent returned the form. About 516 of the 2,696 Manoa and Makiki residents who received forms responded, or 19 percent.
www.state.hi.us/dot/
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