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Ron L. Bush 73-4318C Keokeo Street Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 ! ~ March ts, 2004 1004 ~flfl 18 PIS 3 G9 Councilman James Arakaki COUNI~ ~ ~ 77-6399 Nalani Street, #104 " ,~I Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 Re: Removal of Keokeo Street barricade and creation of northlsouth access roads Dear Councilman Arakaki, As a homeowner in the Kona Highlands subdivision I traveled to and from work in Kona Town. I am now in the process of relocating to the Kokua Loa subdivision. Right now, I, along with all residents in my and the neighboring subdivisions have only three alternatives to get to work-Mamalahoa Highway to Palani Road, or Mamalahoa Highway via Hina Lani or Kaiminani. None of these options are without problems and removing the barricade at Keokeo Street will not solve these aroblems. Might I suggest that a more prudent option would be to connect Hobholo Street through to Nana Street and extend Kauwila Street from Loloa to Alihilani Drive. This provides all of these subdivisions with northlsouth access from the Kaiminani arterial AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH OF THE SUBDIVISIONS. If, as I assume, you are looking to lessen the impact of through traffic on Kaiminani Drive from Queen K to Mamalahoa Highway, then providing access to the bottom of each of the subdivisions makes the most sense for a number of reasons. a) Emergency Vehicles: Fire trucks from the Palisades fire station can get to an emeroencv in our subdivisions much more quickly. Having an older adult with medical conditions in our household makes this very important to us. b) VehiclelPedestrian Safety: The sight distance at Keokeo Street is severely limited for cars traveling up Kaiminani. Just imagine this intersection when the sun is in your eyes twice a day or when it's raining. I'd be very interested in knowing the number of accidents that have already occurred at that intersection-let alone if you make it a through street. The sight distance at Holoholo Street is easily 10 times greater. c) Diversion of traffic from major intersections: Putting through Holoholo Street to connect with the other subdivisions will divert thousands of vehicles from the bottleneck at Kaiminani and Mamalahoa Highway at the base of each subdivision. While I still believe that you should diligently be working with the state to install a traffic signal at this intersection, this will mediate the traffic situation for a while. While putting through Keokeo may also divert traffic away from the major intersections, the dangerous conditions at Keokeo Street will require even further interventions. And nobody wants to see another "Royal Poinciana" with speed bumps every hundred feet! d) Impact on residential neighborhoods: Obviously, creation of new north/south connector streets will have an impact on existing residential neighborhoods. Your decision is how to Comm. Plo. Sb~" Ref. To: _ W ~ Ref. Date