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particular order, these are the things we thought about: Restricted one-way traffic north only,
<br />and the references to north and south refer to how the Bypass portion is used. So between 6:30
<br />and 8:30 AM Monday through Friday, except holidays, this is to handle the AM peak, to give
<br />motorists an alternate route from using Mamalahoa Highway. The second option was restricted
<br />one-way traffic south only. And this would be to address the PM peak. Then the third option
<br />was restricted two-way traffic, north and south, from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM, this is kind of like
<br />daylight hours that it will be used two ways, north and south. And then the fourth option was
<br />unrestricted two-way traffic north and south 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So this is
<br />basically just the optional, opening the whole road up without restrictions. And then the last
<br />option was to keep the road closed and to continue to use it as it is used now, which is mainly
<br />just for emergencies and emergency vehicles, and I think the doctors that work at Kona Hospital
<br />have access to use it. So these are the general options that we looked at.
<br />We met with the community in both Keauhou and Halekii, along Halekii Street, several times.
<br />After meeting with them and listening to their concerns and trying to figure out what could be
<br />done, what was a prudent way of trying to address the overall goal, which was to alleviate traffic
<br />or provide motorists with an alternate route through South Kona, the proposal that Public Works
<br />came up with was to just focus on the PM peak; and mainly because that is the time when there’s
<br />the worst traffic congestion in the Honalo, Kainaliu, and Kealakekua area.
<br />So this is what we’re proposing, that we open up the completed northern portion of the Bypass
<br />and the lower Halekii Street to the public but restricted to south-bound traffic only from 3:30 to
<br />6:30 PM Monday through Friday, except holidays. It would be done a trial basis only, it’s like a
<br />test. And we would be monitoring it daily. The duration of the test would last a week, a month,
<br />depending how it goes. We would start the test after a bunch of short-term mitigation measures
<br />are completed. And basically those measures, after meeting with the two communities, they had
<br />a lot of concerns about traffic, about speeding, a lot to do with safety, you know. And in trying
<br />to address those concerns, we came up with a bunch of short-term mitigation; and the term short-
<br />term is more not how long it would last but more how long it would take Public Works to
<br />implement or construct the improvements to try and mitigate the problems or the concerns of the
<br />communities. And also we would be able to do minor adjustments during the test, just to kind of
<br />develop the optimum configuration or mix of measures. So like we’re saying it’s to be from 3:30
<br />to 6:30, you know, maybe we start a half an hour early or keep it going a half an hour late, or cut
<br />it short, or -. The time of operation we would adjust just to see what would happen.
<br />You know, a lot of the concerns from the communities are related to increased traffic and
<br />speeding. And they’ve always asked me, well, Jiro, how many more cars are you expecting
<br />driving right in front of our houses; and I hesitate to answer. In fact, I never did answer them as
<br />far as the number of cars, because we really don’t know. You know, it’s like an educated guess.
<br />And I’m not a traffic engineer. Ron Thiel, our traffic chief, he may be able to shed some light on
<br />that. But until you actually do it, we really don’t know how it’s going to work. We can give our
<br />best guess but we really don’t know. But this is the basic proposal that we’re, if the restriction
<br />in the zoning condition was lifted, this is how we at Public Works would implement the opening
<br />of the road.
<br />We met with the Keauhou community and also the Halekii Street community. These were the
<br />concerns; and of note the Keauhou community has actually been working with the County
<br />government at various levels, both legislative and the administration, for quite some time. And
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