HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0159.026 2024-2026From: Doreen Raymond
Sent: Monday, April 7, 2025 9:26 AM
To: Council Testimony
Subject: HI Council Testimony: Additional Commitment for Waikoloa Road
Aloha Chair Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Hustace, and Members of the Committee,
My name is Doreen Raymond, resident of Waikoloa Village. 1 am testifying on the Capital Budget
specificalty retated to Waikoloa and our urgent need for a second road. Our community is begging for
help —we need $2.5 million in funding for the initial engineering of Waikoloa's second arterial road to be
included in the 2025 budget.
have only been a resident of Waikoloa Village for 2 years, but I have been a resident of Hawaii for forty-
one years. 1 thought Waikoloa Village was safe, but it's not. We are one fire away from this community
wiping us out. Our community is at risk without an additional road given the increased housing or without
limit roads to depart the village in the event there is a fire. Last week, a car caught on fire on Hulu street
and the Village traffic was diverted. As a result, I could not get out of my driveway for 30 minutes due to
bumper to bumper diverted traffic on the side streets — including my own.
know there are countless worthy needs and projects on Hawaii Island, and budgets are tighter than
ever. But this isn't about convenience or even `just' property - it's about protecting lives and families.
How many more near -misses or tragedies will it take? New funding is being added to the 2025 CIP budget
for street paving projects, new parks, and other amenities that have not been planned for 17 years and
ARE NOT flagged by the County plan as a "very high priority" project needed to prevent the loss of life.
We're not asking for the entire $25 million new road to be funded overnight. We're asking for one critical
step: the $2.5 million needed in THIS year's budget so construction can be planned in the coming years.
If we delay now, we delay everything —and gamble with lives in the process. Our lives rest in your hands.
Councitmembers: Please honor the County's own plan! Don't let Waikoloa become another tragic
headline. We cannot become another Lahaina.
C, cmnD "
Mahalo for the opportunity to share my testimony with the committee, rz `r
Doreen L Raymond
doreen.raymond gmail.com