COM 0766.021 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the past months we have had three meetings with you and/or other Board members plus one open meeting with residents of Malulani Gardens, which meeting as attended by about 15 people, to try and address the issues and concerns raised by MG residents. We have scheduled our next open meeting for September 6' at 5:30 PM at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel's "Honu" room. It has been made clear by the residents via petition, letters, email and testimony as well as in the meetings that their major concerns are the Salvation Army site, the traffic on the lower portion of Malulani Drive and concern about safety for the residents of Kona Coffee Estates as there is only one entry planned for the project in the initial stage of development. The major concerns about the lower portion of Malulani Drive have been 1) Possible hindrance of egress from the gated entry onto Malulani Drive due to a backup queue in the new left-turn lane at the signalized intersection; 2) Safety issues about Queen Kaahumanu Highway north-bound drivers taking the turn onto Malulani Drive at high speed, imperiling Malulani residents; 3) Limited visibility of drivers exiting the gate both mauka on the extended Malulani Drive due to a rise in the topo of the road and makai due to a thick hedge; 4) the use of Malulani Drive by delivery trucks for Lowes; 5) any intrusion into the gated community of Malulani Gardens by the public due to our project; 6) the use of Malulani Drive by construction vehicles for the KCE project; and 7) just a general resistance to any increase in traffic on what many residents continue to call "our road". As to Number 1 above, it was suggested that we work on the possibility of widening the lower portion of Malulani Drive by taking a portion of the park so as to provide a fifth lane for Malulani Gardens residents to "merge" through and avoid any lengthy queue at the left-turn lane. In addition to the Traffic Impact Analysis Report indicating that this is not necessary, we have concerns about the Association getting the necessary 75% vote to do such a thing, but we looked into it, meeting with our engineers, State Department of Transportation personnel, and County of Hawaii personnel. Our engineers looked at the addition of another lane to Malulani Drive and noted that the addition would be limited to the area makai of the gate, due to the fact that the park property starts at the gate and widens out as it goes makai. This means that such a lane would be pretty short, limited to the length between the gate and the widened Queen Kaahumanu Highway (the State is adding another lane to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, which will move the highway more mauka and shorten the distance available for such a new lane). It is physically possible but the length of the lane is not very conducive to merging and will likely be a safety issue. Our engineers came up with two alternative resolutions to the concern about egress from the gate, both of which involve a revised striping plan and additional signage, which they call Option One and Option Two. I have enclosed copies of these Options for your review, as we tried to discuss them at the open meeting with the residents but met with little success. The State DOTH has taken the position that they will not support such an endeavor, nor will they oppose it. They are in the process of widening Queen Kaahumanu Highway (as noted above) and will be adding an additional northbound lane at Malulani Drive, and any plans would have to mesh with their plan, but they expressed willingness to work with us. They did express concern about the affect on pedestrians and bike riders as an additional lane on Malulani Drive would widen the intersection, which is a safety issue. The County Department of Public Works and their Engineering and Traffic Divisions have reviewed the suggestion, and they are ultimately responsible as this roadway lot is in the process of being dedicated and must meet County dedicable standards. Their preliminary assessment is that the short length of the additional lane will present safety issues for a merging lane, and they also shared the State DOT's concerns about the pedestrians and bikeriders. They do not appear very supportive of the plan for such a lane.