HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2022-06.2 -Letter to Director Infrastructure PrioritiesMitchell D. Roth
Mayor
Lee E. Lord
Managing Director
West Hawai‘i Office
74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Hwy
Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i 96740
Phone (808) 323-4770
Fax (808) 327-3563
County of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Zendo Kern
Director
Jeffrey W. Darrow
Deputy Director
East Hawai‘i Office
101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3
Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288
Fax (808) 961-8742
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer planning@hawaiicounty.gov
DATE: March 14, 2022
TO: ZENDO KERN
Planning Director, Planning Department
FROM: SOUTH KOHALA CDP ACTION COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: South Kohala CDP Infrastructure/Emergency Preparedness Priorities
Dear Director Kern:
At the South Kohala Community Development Plan’s Action Committee meeting today, we
voted to request your advocacy to the Mayor on our behalf to prioritize funding for infrastructure
projects in our district. This is intended to guide allocation of the substantial federal dollars that
were allotted in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that passed with bipartisan support in the last
Congressional session, and was signed into law by President Biden.
Hawai‘i State is receiving $2.8 billion. This unprecedented influx of funds is for long-delayed
infrastructure repairs of roads and bridges, plus new traffic infrastructure needed in areas of
population growth. In the County of Hawai‘i, the distribution of the funds will ultimately come
down to Mayor Roth’s decision on which community projects get funded. We ask you to
advocate on behalf of the priorities that are documented in the South Kohala Community
Development Plan, and have been identified through extensive community meetings since,
regarding infrastructure and emergency preparedness needs.
This list below is not ordered by level of priority. Each bullet is a high priority in the affected
communities of South Kohala.
Specifically, from the 2008 SKCDP, our community requests include:
To mitigate the risk of natural disasters, the Puakō community requested the construction
of the Paniau Evacuation Route and considered it a “top priority.” (P.138)
To provide transportation and circulation, “Plan, Fund, and Construct a Second Access
Road to Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway” as a “top priority” both to accommodate
increasing traffic volumes…and more importantly, to provide a second emergency egress
Zendo Kern, Director
Planning Department
March 14, 2022
Page 2
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer planning@hawaiicounty.gov
route for Waikoloa residents, noting that “the most significant type of natural disaster that
threatens the Waikoloa community is the threat of wildfires.” (P.102)
To provide transportation and circulation, a) implement short-term traffic mitigation
improvements in and around Waimea Town Center, b) design and construct the Parker
Ranch Connector Road to Kamamalu, c) design and construct the Lalamilo Connector
Road, and d) resolve the best alignment for the proposed Waimea/Kawaihae Road
Bypass Highway. (Pages 75-76.)
To widen and realign the Waiaka Bridge. The South Kohala CDP specifically asked that
these urgent safety improvements would create a new bridge suitable for vehicular traffic
while preserving the old bridge for multi-modal use.
To fund improvements to the Waikoloa Road/Paniolo Avenue Intersection. This has been
a longtime community concern and is referenced in the 2005 General Plan (13.2.5.6.2.j)
“Provide traffic signals at the Waikoloa Road-Paniolo Drive intersection.”
To fund safety improvements to four bridges along the Kawaihae Rd/Akoni Pule Hwy.
that are located between the entrance to the Pu‘ukoholā Heiau and Kawaihae Hawaiian
Homes (located over Pohaukole Makeāhua, Makahuna and Honokoa Gulch). These
bridges are frequented by both bicyclists and heavy vehicles and have been identified by
several community groups as needing improvements so that bicyclists can ride off the
road and avoid sharing a lane with vehicular traffic. (P.49)
To construct an emergency access route in and out of the Kailapa community (Kawaihae
Hawaiian Homesteads). This neighborhood houses the only emergency shelter for the
broader Kawaihae area, and the issue addressed more broadly by General Policy 4.1 in
the CDP. (P.50)
We appreciate you delivering our message to the Mayor on our behalf.
Sincerely yours,
Ruth A. Smith, Chair, SKCDP-AC