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From: Ikaika Rodenhurst
Sent: Tuesday,January 09, 2024 10:34 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Hawaii County Council Agenda 1/10/24: Support Testimony to Pass Bill 107
Aloha Hawaii County Council Chair Kimball and Council Members,
I am writing in support of passing Bill 107 to secure funding for the Puna Makai Alternate Route study. We
have been talking about alternative routes for decades while the traffic continues to get worse in Puna. This is
the next step towards taking action to address this problem.
Highway 130 is one bad accident away from cutting off our limited roads in and out of Puna. In February of
2020, a car crash in front of Keaau Transfer Station closed the highway and resulted in a massive amount of
traffic through Ainaloa, Orchidland Estates, and Hawaiian Acres, ultimately feeding into the already
overburdened Highway 11. While this was a major inconvenience for our community, this could have been
devastating during a disaster.
This is our opportunity to work together at the County and State levels to provide our Puna community with a
solution to our traffic problem. It is critical we do not kick this problem down the road. We must determine a
path that addresses the traffic and infrastructure needs of Puna, while respecting our neighbors in the
Pana`ewa homestead.
I urge the Council to pass Bill 107 and secure funding for the Puna Makai Alternate Route Study. c)n.
Mahalo, �`
Steven Ikaika Rodenhurst, P.E. *'
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