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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0609.058 2022-2024 p/Council bill Kr c0m1.c,09 From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt Sent: Sunday,January 21, 2024 11:03 AM can To: Council Testimony Cc: Council Remote Testimony Subject: Bill 107 Aloha, I'm wondering, if we mess around with this appropriations bill and otherwise send a message 0F: NO to the state for a million study on what would be an optimal alternative route for Puna,whavis the solution?We have a lot of people who are trying to get to Hilo on a daily basis, including Puna fishermen who now have to use the Wailoa Boat Harbor in Hilo due to Pohoiki not being an option for them. If people aren't working in Hilo,they are traveling there for groceries.We have one main grocery store chain in Puna, Sullivan Family of Companies that owns both Malama Market in Pahoa, Hawaii and Foodland in Kea'au. Friday night in line in the store in Kea'au, I pondered that the cost of a bag of coffee you can get in Hilo for$10 is$16 there. People in Puna need to be able to get to Hilo.The hospital is in Hilo and the ambulances are running back and forth all the time. Many teachers commute to Hilo for work.There are government offices in Hilo. Our ocean entry is now in Hilo if we want to safely swim or surf. I could go on and on about why people need to get to "town."And yet we are in stop and go traffic more and more, even in off-peak commute hours.The Puna Community Development Plan calls for additional connector routes into and out of Puna. The potential routes don't just have to go Makai.They can go Mauka.We can widen Highway 11 and put an overpass over the current stoplight leading into Shipman Industrial Park.We have to look beyond this year and decades into the future when these 30,000 buildable lots in Puna may be built out. So, as you convene your meeting and you get caught up in the NO CAN and think of your really profound reasons for opposing this bill, I ask,what is the solution? Ultimately, as leaders the onus is on your to come up with the solution! Mahalo. \m/\m/ aloha Pronouns:she, her, hers (See:mypronouns.org to learn more) Comm. No I • Ct4 Ref. To: ��I(11111L9 1 Ref. Date AN 2 4 2024 From: Tiffany Edwards Hunt Sent: Thursday,January 11, 2024 5:29 PM To: Council Testimony; Council Remote Testimony Subject: PMAR testimony Please put this on the record I'm case anyone is reading these testimonials: PMAR is DOA with a provision that DHHL lands cannot be traversed.You know that, right?There isn't any other route other than over SHIPMAN and DHHL land.This is not about Malihini versus kama'aina nor is it about haole versus local, and I don't think it's pono to try and fan that into some kind of fire.This is not about trying to get to Target faster. This is about an emergency like a volcanic eruption and needing to get people evacuated. Those who have experienced such trauma as a lava flow are cognizant of the need for an alternate route.This is about the times that we have Carmageddon when we're stuck in traffic for hours and hours.This is not a matter of convenience. It is about trying to make sure that we have an alternative route out of Puna, and not have one big parking lot as we are traveling down a HIGHWAY. No,this is definitely not about shopping at Target and I resent any notion that that would be a reason I'm headed to Hilo,thank you very much. For those who think this is about the availability of services, people who are astute to insurance know that the lava zones in Puna preclude any real improvement in the availability of service. So,that is not a realistic option to try and alleviate Puna's traffic conundrum,thinking we just need to provide more services in Puna. Look at our Puna fishermen. It's been five years since Pohoiki was inundated and those folks are having to crawl down Highway 130 to Hilo to get to the Hilo Boat Ramp because we don't have an option for them in Puna. It's simply fantasy to think that we can try and solve this traffic problem by shifting the commercial growth to Puna.We need an alternate route into Hilo from Puna and we will need to traverse Shipman and DHHL land to do so.We need some brave leaders to make that call. \m/\m/ aloha Pronouns:she, her, hers (See:mypronouns.org to learn more) i