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Keauhou View Estates and the White Sands addition, La‘aloa is by far the major road in and out.
<br />There is also Queen Kalama that serves that area, but there is a problem down here with visibility;
<br />so very few people do go in and out of Queen Kalama. So essentially, La‘aloa is pretty much the
<br />best way for everyone and the only way for all those of us who live in Ali‘i Heights to get in and
<br />out. I think that I would like to emphasize, re-emphasize, the concerns that Mr. Ward raised about
<br />this area down here; this is the lower La‘aloa, or makai La‘aloa. From here on down the roadway is
<br />about, as he stated, about 20 feet wide. There is a lot of traffic, a lot of people, you know, quite a
<br />few people live in this area, and it’s downhill, fairly good grade. I don’t know what it would be in
<br />there, perhaps eight or ten percent grade, and the cars come down there pretty fast. So you not only
<br />have pedestrians but bicyclists like me. And there is a bus stop right there at Ali‘i at the bottom of
<br />La‘aloa. And from just my observation I believe there are about three different buses that stop there
<br />with various different ages of children who walk down, and must walk down La‘aloa pretty much,
<br />unless they come down Queen Kalama and then go all the way north, and that makes no sense,
<br />that’s even worse. So I think from a safety standpoint, I would agree that we need to have this
<br />section improved, particularly if we are going to have, you know, do this and then open it up. There
<br />is going to be probably more traffic. Some of the residents will choose to exit out the top, and so it
<br />will be absent that traffic; but I think overall we’ll be seeing more traffic over that lower section.
<br />
<br />My other concern also was mentioned by Mr. Ward, was the grade up here. Just personally, I’m a
<br />bicyclist who ride 80 to 100 miles a week roughly, and I don’t think I can do a 16 percent grade
<br />straight up. The street I live on is, I calculated about 17 percent, and I have to do switchbacks; if a
<br />car comes, I can go straight for a short distance. But I think there’s very few bicyclists who could
<br />make that. And we don’t get a lot of walkers up there, either -.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Because of the grade.
<br />
<br />SMITH: Because of the grade, yeah. So, thanks for the opportunity to testify. And that’s all that I
<br />have. Thank you.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: You’re welcome. Commissioners, any questions of Mr. Smith? Hearing none,
<br />Mr. Smith, I have a question. You said something about how you felt eventually there would be
<br />more congestion on the makai section. Why do you say that?
<br />
<br />SMITH: Well, I think once, if this is going to be a major connector for, I believe they stated 3.5
<br />miles, there is no connector right now, that you will get people coming south on Kuakini who
<br />perhaps need to go down here, or further south rather, to Keauhou or other areas. Particularly after
<br />the Ali‘i Bypass is completed and opened, you’ll get people coming down this road as an alternative
<br />to Kamehameha III. And so we’ll get a lot of traffic that way, even though some of the traffic gets
<br />generated in the subdivisions themselves will go out the top. It’s just my guess that we’ll probably
<br />see an increase in traffic at least at certain times of the day, particularly in the morning perhaps
<br />when the children are trying to walk down the lower portion of La‘aloa.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Thank you. And you also said something about there is a bus stop right at the bottom, the
<br />intersection?
<br />
<br />SMITH: Yes.
<br />
<br />GIFFIN: Is that a school bus stop, or Hele On Bus, or what is it?
<br />
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<br />EXHIBIT B
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