HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0843.013 2020-2022 �/P W wrc:
From: Sharlene Cee
Seat: Friday, July 01, 2022 11:16 AMC7)
To: Council Testimony
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Subject; COMMUNICATIONS, Comm. 843
RE: COMMUNICATIONS
Comm. 843: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORDS RECA IN ,VRE
WAIANUENUE AVENUE REHABILITATION PROJECT
Dear County Council Members,
My name is Sharlene Gee. I live in Honalo on the west side of the island. I bike and walk to run errands
and for recreation. I am also a volunteer for PATH—People for Active Transportation Hawaii, a Hawaii
County-based nonprofit with a mission to safely connect people and places on Hawaii Island with
pathways and bikeways. I volunteer for the bike and pedestrian education programs for keiki at the
schools.
I am writing because of the URGENT need to implement Hawaii County's Complete Streets road design
manual and award-winning Vision Zero Master Plan. The Complete Streets initiatives and Vision Zero
Action Plan specifically address transparency and community engagement as focal points. Communities
KNOW what is needed to make the roads they travel safer: more connected bike, pedestrian and other
multimodal facilities, road diets (narrower roads), slower speeds, etc.
Thank you for repaving Waianuenue Avenue between Hilo Union School and the Kaumana Drive
junction. However, including bike lanes in the new design has been neglected.
Including bike lanes will not be dangerous if we design them correctly and slow down motor vehicles. As Farhad
Manjoo wrote in the New York Times Opinion piece on 4/21/22, "Riding a Bike in America Should Not Be This
Dangerous," "we have to be willing to slightly inconvenience drivers to improve the roads for everyone else." Bike
lanes on a downtown road next to three schools is an excellent place to slow down vehicle traffic.
There is still plenty of time in the process, and the Feds should approve and commend the bike lane inclusion, since
we are the only County that is not taking Complete Streets seriously.
I respectfully remind you that there needs to be outreach to the biking community and public input should
be solicited for every major repaving project. This is an excellent situation to show strong leadership by the
County to act decisively and when work is done, take the opportunity to improve roads for all, including
cyclists.
Sincerely,
Sharlene Gee
Honalo
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