The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0027.032 2000-2002 F;._ FUKU-BONSAI •Oi 2 CULTURAL CENTER ,a~ri,~ s ~Ii~l ~ PO Box 8000 (Olga Road), Kurtlsrown, HI 96780 ' ` Phone (808) 982-9880, FAX 982-9883 IMVNINFUKUBONSAI.COM February 19, 2001 I RECEIVED Tme-------- - By - - pole--. ~'IsXJP._.l To the members of Hawall County Council ~O°~II ' 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 RE: IN OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSED PAHOA BY-PASS INTERSECTION Aloha) I oppose the proposed Shipman requested Intersection, as It well greatly reduce the effectiveness of the Pahoa By-Pass Road. The entire region is growing and there will one day be Justification to install a Hilo-to-Pahoa Overpass to speed traffic, to reroute Pahoa-to-Volcano traffic, and to completely eliminate the current Pahoa By-Pass stoplight. Volcano Highway 11 is the primary limited access highway from Hilo to Kona and the shopping center intereectlon requsated by the Shipman Estate will eliminate current and future benefits of the Pahoa By- Pass. The best vi~y to oreaerve the Pahoa By-Pass Is to not allow a JJ'ennanent Intereacdonl A connecting road will encourage Shipman Industrial Park traffic to utilize that intersection and there well be MORE traffic through that Intersection rather than less. Without other measures, this will fatalty establish the Pahoa By- Pass intersection as the primary route for the huge amount of future development mauka of VOlcario Highway. I recommend 1. That as a condition of rezoning, that Shipman Estate build that connector road from the proposed shopping center to the Shipman Induatrlal Park, i ex' intereection of Volcano His~hway and )omen IndustHal Park. While the proposed inbreectton at the ahoa y ass would be allowed, It must be made clwr that this would be a m re solution to not create undue Shipman hardship. Although there are arguments against Shipman development mauka of Volcano Highway, my concern and objective is the creation of the optimum future regronal traffic pattern. While I oppose allowing an permanent intersection at the Pahoa By-Pass, creating a temporary intersection could lie a reasonable compromise. This will give Shipman an opportunity to begin development iFthere are developers willing to take risks. Shipman owns extensive lands above Volcano Highway and It must be made clear that this is a temporary compromise Additional rezoning beyond 20 acres should require additional cond' 'one Z m. No. File No. Re . To: f'reseatad ~U P1L,1 R.:, 1).te FEB 21 ~nm 2. As a condition for future nzonln , Shipman must complsts a frontags road bsiwssn Shippmmaan ~ndustrlal Park and Shipman Playground and close the Pahoa BY-Pass tsmoorarv Inbnsetion. If it is known that this future condition exists, Shipman wdl design accordingly and embark on an acceptable traffic masterplan for the entire area This compromise is reasonable and gwea highway access to the entire developable area mauka of Volcano H'~ghway utlliztng two existing intersections Even when the entire area is built out, the two enlarged existing intersections wdl handle traffic better than focusing traffic at the proposed intersection. Importantly. the effectiveness of the Pahoa~y-Pass will be preserved for future generations ANALYSIS OF SHIPMAN SHOPPING CENTER TRAFFIC With today's level of traffic, there would be modest delays of Pahoa traffic entering or exiting through the proposed Pahoa By-Pass intersection. But by additionally routing Shipman Industnal Paris exd traffic through the Pahoa By- Pass intersection, there would be significant delays that would become increasingly more lengthy in the future as the entire area mauka of Volcano Higghway is developed. The recommendation to require Shipman to install a traffic 19ht at the existing Shipman Industrial Park intersection solves that traffic problem rather than create a compounded problem. Because these two intersections are close, it should be possible to synchronize the lights. This will allow the afternoon mdustnal park traffic going to Hilo to safely cross two lanes of heavy on-coming traffic. By infiaily having two traffic light intersections, traffic coming out of the mdustnal park and the shopping center wdl flow faster Being a crossroads town, traffic will likely come from three directions. In the distant future, there may be a connector road from Hilo mauka to Keaau, preferably connecting at the Shipman Playground intersection. Shipman's proposed intersection at the Pahoa By-Pass is opportunistic with negative long- term benefits that negate past traffic planning. It wtll also negatively impact both directions of all Volcano-to-Hilo traffic 1. FROM HILO. The shopping center should be able to attract this traffic with a simple Volcano Highway off-ramp between Shipman Industrial Park and the Pahoa By-Pass into the proposed development area. This same off-ramp would be continuing to a future Pahoa By-Pass Overpass over Volcano Highway Traffic from Hilo could also utilize the connector road to the proposed shopping center Once the frontage road extending to Shipman Playground is completed in the future, they can also enter from the Shipman Playground entrance Traffic from Hdo has very little benefit from the proposed Pahoa By-Pass intersection 2. FROM VOLCANO. Traffic from this direction would use the temporary Pahoa By-Pass intersection or enter through the Shipman industrial Park intersection Once the frontage road is completed and the temporary Pahoa By- Pass intersection is closed, traffic would enter the area from the Shipman Playground or Shipman Industrial Paris intersections Traffic from Volcano also has very little benefit from the Pahoa By-Pass intersection 3. FROM PAHOA. The Pahoa By-Pass intersection requested by Shipman is an effort to capture this trafic. These recommendations would initially allow traffic from Pahoa to erHer and exit through the proposed Shipman development through the Pahoa By-Pans interaection. However, these recommendations also call r hrpman to install traffic lights at Shipman Industrial Park to allow those on the Pahoa By-Pass to also safely enter Shipman Industrial Park and the shopping center through the connector road Recommendations will allow Shipman to develop the entire large area mauka of Volcano Highway in an orderly manner as allowed by economic conditions The recommendations provide temporary relief and will give Shipman improved temporary economic feasibility to establish customer loyalty for their development However. all efforts must be made to preserve the original traffic benefts of the Pahoa By-Pass. Shipman's proposal is both opporturnstic and insidious By installing a Pahoa By-Pass intersection, it limits the potential of the BY-Pass Road By funneling more and more traffic through that intersection, d wil! greatly slow all traffic in the entire distnct It will negate the long-term ben8fds and rationale for the Pahoa By-Pass Road While this clearly has economic benefits for Shipman, the benefds are derived from callously arcumventing all past planning They should not be allowed to do so. Shipman's efforts are aimed at attracting Pahoa traffic It is ironic that in attempting to do so, that they successfully scuttle an outstanding solution that speeds Pahoa traffic Those in the entire region and especially those in Pahoa should vehemently oppose a permanent intersection at the Pahoa By-Pass Roadl Sincerely, ~~,Q David W Fukumoto~nt Fuku-Bonsailnc cc Harry Kim, mayor Andrew Levin, mayoral assistant