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Sally Ancheta
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Hilo Bayfront Trails kA1
Board of Directors COUNTYCLERK
COUNTY OF HAWArl
RECEIVED
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July 1, 2022 ,IL
R :Comm 843, Update on Waianuenue Avenue Rehabilitation Project
To: Honorable Susan Lee Loy,Chair
Honorable Matt Keneali'I-Kleinfelder,Vice Chair
Members of the Hawaii County Council Committee on Public Works and
Mass Transit
Aloha e Honorable Chair Lee Loy and Committee members,
I have had the privilege to serve on the Mayor's Active Living Advisory Council since 2017,
just as we were adopting the Hilo„Downtown MUltirnod l Master Ply-fin,which would
redesign downtown Hilo into a thriving hub of business, residential living,walking, biking
and multimodal transportation.
It was with greatjoy that I learned in early 2021,in a meeting as a member of the Hawai'i
Island Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee,that Waianuenue
Avenue was set for a pavement rehabilitation project. It was in that meeting with then
DPW Director Ikaika Rodenhurst,that I asked if this would be a Complete Street project
and he did not know what a Complete Street project would entail.
From that point forward, knowing the County of Hawaii had passed Resolution 799 to
adopt a new Street Design Manual, I have informed our board at Hilo Bayfront Trails and
community partners in Active Transportation,that we need to pursue the implementation
of the new Street Design Manual so projects,such as the Waianuenue Avenue Rehab,
would be considered for multimodal transportation.
As an avenue that connects three schools, residential areas and downtown Hilo,this is an
ideal opportunity for the County of Hawai'i to join our other counties in providing
equitable transportation options to our residents and visitors.
In fact,we lag far behind our other counties in creating spaces for access to physical
activity.According to the 2022 County Health Rankings,by the Robert Woods Johnson
Foundation,only 66%of Hawai'i County residents said they felt they had access to
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exercise opportunities,as compared to 90%for the rest of the state,the County of
Hawaii falls significantly behind. y .a.I
As a member of Hilo Bayfront Trails Board of Directors,a resident of Hilo and a mom,
whose son would have loved to have been able to ride his bike to high school but we lacked
safe routes for him in the Waiakea area, I implore the Department of Public Works to re
engage our active transportation community members and residents of downtown Hilo,
to look at options to restrie Waianuenue Avenue to include bike lanes.
We have had too many road rehabilitation and restriping projects presented to us with
bike lanes and redesign for multimodal transportation,only to find the final project is
created only for motorized vehicles.
We can do better,we must do better for our residents and visitors.We won't be able to
improve our health outcomes and increase our access to physical activity, until we design
roads that include safe bike lanes.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Comm 843,
Sally Ancheta
Secretary, Hilo Bayfront Trails
Mayors Active Living Advisory Council