5 Waimea traffic plans proffered
The Big Isle town has $10 million set aside, but all five proposals have problems
WAIMEA, Hawaii » The Big Island town of Waimea, once known for its giant Parker Ranch and not much else, is wrestling with the $10 million question: how to fix the traffic mess with that sum.
Despite urban growth along its edges, Waimea remains a town with just two main roads and one T-shaped intersection. At rush hours, traffic backs up for miles in three directions, community advocate Patti Cook said.
"We're a little cow town that's exploding," said another community worker, Bob Hunter.
In 15 years the population has gone from 6,000 to 8,000. About 1,200 more homes are on the books, meaning possibly 4,800 more people coming.
The numbers are small by Honolulu standards, but everyone has to go through that one T-intersection of Lindsey-Kawaihae Road with Mamalahoa Highway. There are no alternate routes, not even through back streets. In traffic jargon, there is no "connectivity."
Besides local traffic, nearly every car, bus, fuel truck, water tanker and delivery vehicle between East and West Hawaii has to funnel through the intersection.
Hawaii County has $9.6 million in bond money to solve the problem. An environmental study has already taken $400,000.
At least five possible solutions are offered. All have big problems.
The proposals involve two semicircles around the town, an inner one called the "connectors" and a much bigger outer one called the "bypasses," each divided into two segments for a total of four.
The Waimea Town Connector is supposed to be built by Parker Ranch, now as much a land developer as a cattle operation. But unless the $10 million is used now and paid back by Parker later, construction is years away.
The adjoining Lalamilo Connector would go next to the highly productive Lalamilo Farm Lots. Farmers do not want it because it would increase agricultural thefts and fumes from cars would pollute crops, said flower farmer Donna Mah.
Parker official Riley Smith said the ranch is willing to consider an alignment farther from the farms and closer to its historic Parker homes.
Farther out, the Waimea Bypass would go through Hawaiian Homes pasture lands and could involve difficult negotiations. That segment would connect to the Kawaihae Road Bypass, which could also threaten the Lalamilo farms.
With the recent spike in asphalt prices, the costs are horrendous. The Kawaihae Bypass, until recently estimated at $92 million, is now pegged at $190 million, Hunter said.
A fifth suggestion is a series of small projects, such as removing a landscaped medial strip on Mamalahoa and creating a turning lane. But that would mean damaging the small-town charm of Waimea, and one opponent even threatened to lie down in the street to stop it, Hunter said.
A town meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Kahilu Hall will hear a preliminary report on recommendations from a county consultant.
