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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0843.016 2020-2022 P!' r�d mc' From- rterry Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2022 12:53 PM To: Council Testimony Subject: TESTIMONY ON Comm. 843: July 5 Hawaii County Council Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit Attachments: Bike Lane Layout 220415 Waianuenue Avenue.pdf TESTIMONY ON Comm. 843: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS REGARDINGTWE " WAIANUENUE AVENUE REHABILITATION PROJECT c0 `w a Submitted on June 30, 2022, via email to the Hawaii County Council Committee on Public Works and Mass Traa&at Dear Chair Lee Loy and Committee Members: ,. Thank you for holding a meeting to ask the Department of Public Works(DPW) about the Waianuenue Avenue repaving project.As a resident of nearby Hina Street active in my kumiai, an environmental planner, an avid bicyclist and walker, and the husband of a Hilo High School graduate and father to another,this project is very important to me. I first want to thank the County Council, Mayor and DPW for undertaking this long-needed project.The noise and traffic have been heavy in our neighborhood, but it will be worth it in the end. I am concerned, however,that DPW has been deficient in consulting affected user communities about the project design.The principle of Complete Streets that is part of federal, State and County laws, regulations and policies requires the County to carefully consider on each project how to make its streets safe, accessible and useful for all categories of users. In this County, whether purposefully or not, motor vehicles still tend to trump all other users. Even though Complete Streets is the law of the land, bike lanes here are the exception rather than the rule. Our streets are woefully incomplete—and the lack of bike facilities in recent projects coupled with the uptick in motor vehicle speeding and pedestrian and bicyclists collisions indicates that we are heading the wrong way on the path to Complete Streets. Once the project started construction, an informal group of bicyclists got together and tried to get some answers from DPW about whether there would or would not be bike lanes, and if not,why not. We were frustrated that there had been no public meetings and no outreach to the biking community. After not hearing back,we repeatedly asked the Mayor for meetings with DPW, and to the administration's credit,they finally met with us in April. We presented them with a conceptual lane plan prepared by an experienced transportation engineer that showed how bike lanes could readily fit on the roadway(please see attachment, for which I plan to provide paper copies on July 5). DPW pledged to seriously consider bike lanes and hold a public meeting.That was encouraging, but since then, we have not heard back from them,despite our inquires. We hear through the grapevine that there will be no bike lanes and no public meeting to find out what the public wants and needs. Perhaps they can clarify that on July 5. Why has DPW chosen not to include bike lanes in the new design?They provided the rationale that bicycles are dangerous to mix with automobiles on many roads; bike lanes take away parking; DPW engineers don't see all that many bicyclists;they would like to help biking but it costs too much and slows down cars; the federal government won't approve a design change to include Complete Streets features; and it's just too late in the process. None of these reasons are really valid in this case. It won't be dangerous if we design the lanes right. It will indeed slow vehicles a little bit, but that is not a bad thing on a downtown street near a school. As our drawing shows,we can have bike lanes while losing only a few parking spots.As you may be aware, Hilo High School is seeking and is likely to receive capital funds to expand its onsite parking, and the result will be a large net gain of parking, not a loss. As maps from the biking app STRAVA show, plenty of people are biking on Waianuenue, even if DPW doesn't see them. Bikers are currently forced to use the sidewalk.This is not safe for bikes or pedestrians. The sidewalks are cracked, narrow, and full of signs, poles,and anchors, and pedestrians and wheelchair users may be present. Even more people will bike when there are facilities to do so. Every Dome N o 1 Ref, o: Ref.Dofe person who bikes instead ofdrives reduces traffic congestion, noise,greenhouse gas emissions and exhaust pollution. Wouldn't it be wonderful ifkids could bike to school again?The extra cost for striping bike lanes is actually quite trivial. We believe there is still plenty of time in the process, and that FHWA will not only approve it—they will applaud it—since our county is behind the rest of the counties in accomplishing the goals of Complete Streets. Looking atthe big picture if we should not try tnslow down traffic and build bike lanes on a downtown street next tothree schools...where should vvedothis? What will happen if we fail to include bike lanes?On the stretch mauka of Hilo High, many cars and trucks already exceed 45 MPH. When the road is nice and smooth,with big,wide lanes, motorists will certainly drive even faster. Waianuenue Avenue should not bea bike-unfriendly speedway.To prevent this,we need to reduce the speed limit, install traffic calming measures and build bike lanes. Not to do so would be a step in the wrong direction. We hope that the dialogue from your committee's meeting nnthis project will help direct our County on its journey to safe, efficient and environmentally friendly to Complete Streets. RON TERRY PH.D., PR|N0PAL Geometrician Associates GEO �4�T�� |�N ,".^_ . . `°`~ IAN Integrating Geographic Science and Planning (808)969-7090 10 Hina Street Hilo HI 96720 Visit usetgemnnetriciamassmciates.cmnm Z Waianuenue Avenue @VIU�t� i yp' cal existingsection mauka of Halai Street 1 n ral eat I yz q,erl on m'wk p hd I Street n um r�se+n N",s"a � e,m/kms aam y ms rp frnbrw"N—W e Hamaa,e sae dune sloe rn ,ws is .'ts"«.. row. a:noul�futir g AW: I"vurke:-9.4% pee 2U7'7 trAPSMFi C ulv1 f a'-k ri-boi.anc k 41 a by Wj.A riq v ptGrcf plot(or(r<t igte. Typi al proposed section Le Shoel to Komohana treet Typical propolam Street sed section Komohana Street to Kamw h+an uena sdn nun nrdrn s r" a '� NMIMt IIWY. m .THIN. n Uh nd nght 1. fa-,M :. }[r{"ah 7hulow) Distance between XWs mnnuml 11 i, Existing Parking Stalls to k.. Remain(39) "] Removed Parking Stalls - (35) - --- Proposed(18-22')Parking Stalls(27) Proposed Intersection Reconfiguration at Wa anuenue antl Komohana / /11