Bridge plan
concerns Navy

Safety and operations issues
are raised over a proposal to
build an Ewa toll highway

U.S. Navy officials are urging caution over a proposal to build a toll highway with bridges across Pearl Harbor to link Ewa with Ford Island and ease traffic in West Oahu.

But they did not shut the door on the idea.

"There's a lot of consideration that must be taken if anyone is going to do any proposal for a bridge across Pearl Harbor or Ford Island," Stanford Yuen, executive assistant to Navy Region Hawaii commander Rear Adm. Michael Vitale, told the City Council Transportation Committee on Thursday.

The committee approved a resolution expressing the commitment to studying the Ewa-Ford Island bridge idea. A total of $350,000 has been budgeted for the study.

The project, proposed by Transportation Chairman Todd Apo, who represents Ewa and Leeward Oahu, calls for a new highway to cross the Ewa Plain and follow Iroquois Road to the west shores of Pearl Harbor.

A new bridge crossing Pearl Harbor to Waipio Peninsula and a second new bridge to Ford Island also would need to be built, and traffic would exit the island via the current Admiral Clarey bridge to Kamehameha Highway. A toll might also be charged to use the route.

Yuen said the Navy has several concerns, including having a roadway built in the vicinity of the West Loch Naval Magazine, which stores ammunition for the military.

He also said Navy officials have concerns about the effect on Navy infrastructure and operations. He also questioned whether Ford Island's historical significance might affect the project.

But he did not rule out the possibility as long as the city works with the Navy on those concerns. "People need to work with us to understand the requirements," Yuen said.

Ed Hirata, director of the city Department of Transportation Services, said it would be possible to work with the Navy to find what it would require to determine whether the project should proceed.

"We also have concerns as mentioned by the Navy about whether we can overcome or meet the challenges that we face," Hirata said. "In doing this study, we would want to make sure that right at the front end we can quickly determine the feasibility of this project."

The Navy was not the only one with concerns.

Howard Shima, former Transportation Committee chairman for the Aliamanu/Salt Lake/Foster Village Neighborhood Board, opposed the resolution, saying he does not want Ewa's traffic problems to become his neighborhood's traffic problem.

"It will have negative impact on my community," Shima said. "My personal opinion is that this project is not feasible because it will not help alleviate the traffic problem for the Leeward drivers."

His view was shared by the Councilmen Romy Cachola and Gary Okino, who represent the areas surrounding where the traffic from the proposed project would be channeled. They said they have doubts the plan would work.