Kailua High access
woes under review

The state seeks an agency to
maintain a second access road

One way in and one way out of Kailua High School. It is cause for worries for Pohakupu subdivision residents and students walking to school.

So the state is proposing to build an alternative access road to the high school but is still seeking an agency willing to maintain it once it is constructed.

"There is a safety issue," Kailua Neighborhood Board member and former legislator Faith Evans said. "We have to do this for the safety of the people in the Pohakupu community and people walking to the school."

The roadway is planned to extend from Kalanianaole Highway, through the Women's Community Correctional Center toward Kailua High. Costs for planning and design are estimated at $800,000. Construction for the road is estimated at $5 million.

The Department of Accounting and General Services hired Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc., a project consultant, to do an environmental assessment of the site. A traffic study on Kalanianaole Highway and Kailua Road also will be done to determine the impact on the proposed access road, said state Comptroller Russ Saito.

Still, a lot of issues need to be resolved before the state moves forward with the project.

A lot of meetings are expected to be held with the community to get its input. The state is also looking into security concerns for the nearby Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility when construction starts.

Then there is the lingering issue of what agency will accept responsibility for the maintenance of the road.

The state approached the city, but it declined because of "increased risk of liability and added maintenance and enforcement costs," said Laverne Higa, director of the Department of Facility Maintenance. The city also viewed the access road as exclusively serving the high school.

The state also approached the Department of Education, but it also declined for the same reasons.

Some state officials and community members questioned why the state is not maintaining responsibility for the access road.

"The state should be responsible all the way," Evans said. "The state would be leading off of a state highway into a state facility. I don't see any reason why the state cannot do it."

Saito said: "This is similar to a new subdivision on privately owned land turning a road to a school in the subdivision over to the city. The responsibility generally is assumed by the city, not the landowner. The school serves a community (city) purpose. The convention is that public streets within the city/community are the responsibility of the city.

"Highways between cities/ towns are the responsibility of the state," he said.

The state is looking at other agencies that will consider maintaining the access road, Saito said.

Streets that lead to the school were built without sidewalks, endangering students who walk to Kailua High. Despite the decrease in enrollment at the school, the number of vehicles has increased, said Evans. She noted that the amount of traffic in the area has increased in the last 10 to 15 years.

Events held at the school, such as football games, create traffic in the area.

"An access road would help relieve some congestion," said Kailua High Principal Francine Honda.

Land swap plan would
give state site to move
and rebuild school

The Board of Education is considering a proposed land swap that would give the current Kailua High School site to a residential developer in exchange for 97 acres of land near Mount Olomana and $70 million to build a school at the new site.

The offer by Charles Wang, who owns the New York Islanders hockey team, his daughter Kimberly Dey and her husband, Christopher Dey, is believed to be the first of its kind involving public schools.

Chairman Breene Harimoto called it an "extremely exciting" offer and a potential solution to chronic repair and maintenance problems on the 50-year-old campus.

"We have the opportunity to create a whole new school with a whole new vision. Maybe it could be a high-tech school," he said.

Kailua High sits on 75 acres next to the Women's Community Correctional Center and the Pohakupu subdivision. The proposed new site is about a mile south on Kalanianaole Highway on the mauka side of the road.

A committee will be set up to study the offer and report back to the board. Harimoto said any final decision would require input from the area's wide-ranging stakeholders.

He said the $70 million offered for school construction is "probably not enough" and could be a "deal-breaker."

"We don't know if it will pan out, but it's an exciting offer and something we need to consider," he said.

The Deys also owned the now-defunct Hawaii Islanders arena football team. They could not be reached for comment yesterday.