HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0679.083 2022-2024 P f Council
bill 125
COMM.L7c1
From: PATH Hawaii
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2024 6:08 PM ;
cp
To: Council Testimony ,?
Cc: Kimball, Heather; Kagiwada, Jennifer; Lee Loy, Sue; Kierkiewicz, Ashley; Kai ealii-
Kleinfelder, Matt; Galimba, Michelle M.;Villegas, Rebecca; Inaba, Holeka; vans,<
Cynthia F.W.
Subject: Bill 125 - -r—
Co = ;
Dear County Council,
PATH-People for Active Transportation Hawaii, works to promote.safe streets for active
transportation users; pedestrians, cyclists and any other form of active transportation on Hawaii
Island and we are a proponent of Complete Streets. Complete Streets are streets designed and
operated to enable safe use, and support mobility,for all users. Those include people of all ages
and abilities, regardless of whether they are travelling as drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, or public
transportation riders. The concept of Complete Streets encompasses many approaches to planning,
designing, and operating roadways and rights of way with all users in mind to make the
transportation network safer and more efficient. Complete Street policies are set at the state,
regional, and local levels and are,frequently supported by roadway design guidelines. Bill 125 is in
direct opposition to making our streets safe for all users and instead looks to restrict use of roads
based on broad definitions of unsafe roadways instead of looking at how to make those roadways
safer for all users.
In 2011 resolution 171-2 draft 2 was approved by the County Council to adopt a Complete Streets
policy. In December 2020, County Council passed resolution 779-20 adopting the County of
Hawaii Street Design Manual to guide the implementation of Complete Streets in the County
design creating roadways for multimodal users including cyclists and pedestrians. On June 13,
2022, the Mayor made a proclamation that was a pledge for the embodiment of the Complete
Streets policy.
•
Unfortunately, Bill 125 is going completely against the two County Council resolutions adopting
Complete Streets and the Complete Streets Proclamation supported by the Mayor, Department of
Public Works, Planning Department and Mass Transit by restricting access to cyclists on our
County roads.
While we understand that Bill 125 is targeted at cycling tour companies, ultimately all cyclists are
affected by Bill 125. Please consider how passage of Bill 125 will impact casual cyclists on our
roads. How will Bill 125 be enforced by the Hawaii County Police Department and what is the
impact on social groups of cyclists that are not part of a tour but find themselves riding on roads
that have been loosely deemed unsafe? While cyclists are already a vulnerable user group
compared to vehicles, will passage of Bill 125 empower drivers to confront cyclists that they feel
"don't belong" on the County roads? aa
Comm. N.. TT�• a�
Ref. To: 1 I�LItl�i■
1 Ref. Date JUN 5 2024
Please do not pass Bill 125 to restrict our streets but instead consider working to pass legislation
enforcing Complete Streets in our County design process and make roads safer for cyclists and
pedestrians.
Best regards,
Kelly Hudik
Chief Operations Officer
Connecting People and Places
Donate! Volunteer! Sign up for our newsletter!
•
•