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Crosswalk
not to blame,
but crossers

Question: I drive for a living and have noticed a real problem on Pali Highway coming into downtown at Beretania Street. There are crosswalks on both sides (both Ewa and Diamond Head) of this intersection, and during the daytime only one car can turn right (if you are lucky) and to do that, you have to either hurry and turn on the yellow light or bust the red light completely to get through the intersection. While I realize Hawaii Pacific University has a lot of students who need to cross that intersection, wouldn't it be a whole lot safer and easier to make ONLY the Ewa side of the intersection have a crosswalk, thus allowing all cars in the turn lanes to get through the light? The way it is now, traffic backs up horribly during rush hours. And it sure would be easier if pedestrians would stop crossing when the signal warns them, yet people will dart out in front of cars clear up until the light changes. A change is needed, as well as pedestrian education, but that's a whole new story!

Answer: You hit the real problem on the nail, and it's not with the crosswalks.

The problem is with jaywalkers and people illegally crossing Beretania against the "Don't Walk" signal, said Ty Fukumitsu, a traffic engineer with the city Department of Transportation Services.

The department received a similar complaint earlier and monitored the area in January.

Based on your complaint, the department went out again last week and verified the initial findings -- that the problem was not with the crosswalks, but with people.

The Department of Transportation Services had already increased the green-light time for drivers coming from the Pali onto Beretania, Fukumitsu said. If pedestrians obeyed the "Don't Walk" signal, drivers would have adequate time to make the right turns.

"Pedestrians have to be responsible, too," he said.

As it is, he said the two crosswalks are justified because it is such a heavily used pedestrian crossing.

However, to try to get pedestrians to obey the signals, Fukumitsu said he would change the "Don't Walk" signal in that area from the standard walking man/hand symbols to a countdown signal, which lets people know how much time is left to cross a street.

"I don't know if that will help," he said, but he is hoping the countdown will reinforce the idea that people should not be crossing. Fukumitsu said he has the countdown signals in stock, so there is no extra cost for the change. They are usually used for problem areas or near schools.

The other thing he will do is contact the Honolulu Police Department for enforcement of the traffic laws in that area.

Memorial Day sounds

Don't be alarmed if you hear the sounds of booming cannons and fighter jets on Monday.

As part of Memorial Day services at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, cannons will be fired at about 9:20 a.m., followed by a flyover of F-15 fighter jets.

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