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Aloha Chair and Members of the Council,
2025 HAY 21 All I
Our names are David and Linda Carpenter, and we have been residents of Waikoloa Village
for three years. We are writing to askyou to support Communication 159.41 to amend Bill
No. 32, Draft 2, ensuring funding for the initial engineering of Waikoloa's second arterial
road.
We arrived in Waikoloa just after the 2021 fire that burned within three miles of the Village.
While we did not experience the fires ourselves one of our dear friends died of a heart
attack as she became increasingly anxious about her family's ability to evacuate quickly
and safely. Other neighbors describe long delays with the evacuation and fears that
any delays or problems on Hulu Road would place everyone at significant risk as Hulu
is a one -lane, winding and narrow emergency route with nowhere to pull over or pass.
In 2008, the County adopted the Waikoloa Village Plan "with very high priority given to the
construction of a second access road connecting Waikoloa Village to Queen Ka'ahumanu
Highway." Seventeen years later, no funding has been committed to implementing this
priority. Since 2008, the population has increased from 5000 to 7500, with new housing to
accommodate another 2000+ residents expected by the end of the decade. Rapid growth
coupled with the significant increase in wildfires places all Waikoloa residents at
significant risk. A second arterial access highway is not a traffic convenience —it is needed
to save lives.
We know you face tough budget decisions and competing priorities, but this is an issue that
must be addressed in the 2025 Capital Improvement Budget. Ed Sniffen, Director of the
Hawaii Department of Transportation, is committed to helping find federal money for this
arterial highway if the County completes the engineering and design but has stated that he
cannot help if the engineering has not been completed and a firm cost estimate prepared
by DPW. He will no longer be in the job after 2026 to honor this commitment if the County
does not complete the engineering and project design by 2026.
Thank you for considering this critical amendment. We are counting on your leadership to
address our community's safety needs. We humbly askfor your `yes'vote on this
amendment.
Respectfully,
David and Linda Carpenter
Waikoloa Village
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