HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1107.004 2006-2008
Murashige, Laura
From: amesweatherford arden reen hawaiiantel.net
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 4:45 PM
To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us R~! 8 16
Subject: Res. 573-08 20Qa flPR 21
Support. t,~QO.~.`N..:'\. 14li
Mahalo nui loa to Council member Naeole for taking action on this matter.
Resolution 573-08 is good in that its main purpose is to garner cooperation between the
State Department of Transportation and the County Department of Public Works; and,
furthermore, to bring that cooperation to focus on the emergency situation at hand on
Kea'au - Pahoa Road. It would also be productive to bring the relevant community
associations into the dialogue, sooner rather than later. Several intersections along
`Pahoa-Kea'au Road' involve private roads for which the associations are responsible.
A state of emergency exists on Kea'au - Pahoa Road; as evidenced by the high and
increasing number of incapacitating injuries and deaths resulting from collisions.
There is a general understanding within the community that Kea'au - Pahoa Roadis the
deadliest public road in the State of Hawaii. Data on highway deaths are not made public.
Nevertheless, there has been no rebuttal to assertions that Kea'au - Pahoa Road is,
indeed, the deadliest public road in the State of Hawaii.
The State Department of Transportation (DOT) plans for Kea'au - Pahoa Road are proceeding
apace, even as the community has been working on
short- and long-term transportation planning as part of the now-in- draft-form Puna
Community Development Plan (CDP). In the Puna CDP the transportation action with highest
priority is safety at nine (9) intersections on Kea'au - Pahoa Road. At every stage of
Puna CDP the community has spoken: widening of Kea'au - Pahoa Road is a low priority.
Nevertheless, DOT presses on with plans to widen Kea'au - Pahoa Road to increase capacity,
so more cars can going faster.
Meanwhile, I continue to watch my neighbors being maimed and killed.
Will my family be next?
Recently at a Kea'au community meeting, a State DOT official blamed the problem on the
drivers. This is an irresponsible statement, given a highway design that is clearly a
colossal failure, i.e., the infamous bottleneck on the Kea'au bypass near the Human
Society.
Nevertheless, there is indeed an extreme level of illegal and unsafe driving on the Kea'au
- Pahoa Road, and, if the data was publicly available, it might well show that a high
number of crashes are actually due to excessive speed and/or impaired driving. It is the
County's responsibility to enforce traffic laws and it is in this area where the County
has failed to fulfill its obligation to serve and protect the community.
I ask the this Council to support cooperation between and among State and County
governments, and the community associations with intersections along Kea'au - Pahoa Road,
to cooperate in making this road safer. This request is for a purely personal and selfish
reason:
my family and I may live or die as a result.
James Weatherford
Kea'au, Hawaii
1107.
Gomm No.
W __1
Ref. TO: ` e we
Ref. Date APR 2 2 2008
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