HomeMy WebLinkAboutIndividual Comment - G. Hillert - Proposal-Kailua-Kona-Hiona Street ExtensionFrom: ghillert@gmail.com [mailto:ghillert@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Gunnar Hillert
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2016 8:44 AM
To: General Plan; Planning Internet Mail
Subject: Proposal - Kailua-Kona - Hiona Street Extension
Aloha,
I hope this finds you well. 1 1/2 months ago, I wrote you about a planning proposal in Holualoa/Kailua-Kona,
but unfortunately I never heard back. Assuming, that the email got lost along the way I am resending it.
* * *
My wife, our 2 kids and I live up Hiona St. I have a proposal in regards to
road infrastructure.
One major infrastructure concern we have (in case of e.g. natural disasters) is that for a stretch of 6 miles along
180/Mamalahoa Hwy there is no alternative (publicly) accessible route/interconnect towards 11/Queen
Ka‘ahumanu Hwy (between 190/Palani Rd intersection and Hualalai Rd intersection).
The only 2 options are Palani Rd or Hualalai Rd - both options take roughly 20min depending on traffic.
Looking at the map around us, I always wondered about Hiona St.
While it currently just traverses the sub-division (Keopu Heights), Hiona St. appears structurally like some of
the other major connectors such as Hina Lani St. Also:
It seems like Hiona St is a county-owned road
The adjacent parcel with TMK 750030230000 [1] connects Hiona St all the way to Queen Ka‘ahumanu
Hwy down makai near the Lowe's Home Improvement store.
That parcel is for sale right now - ML 293933 [2]
Therefore I have the following question:
Would it be desirable to connect Hiona St with Queen Ka‘ahumanu Hwy?
Even though we are directly above Kona - it typically takes 20 minutes to reach down-town Kona. It would be
almost ideal if that connection existed as it would allow:
For first-time responders to be much faster in this mauka region of Holualoa
Would alleviate some traffic on Palani Rd as well as 180/Mamalahoa Hwy
Provide a critical back-up in case some sections of Mamalahoa Highway / 180 become impassable due
to weather events etc.
I had checked with the public works department, but they don't have this extension on their radar, yet.
Therefore I also wanted to address this question/proposal to you and hope this might be a infrastructure
improvement project worthwhile supporting.
* * *
Since I sent this I also talked some more with neighbors, apparently years ago there was some discussion
around this.
Also, very long-time, it may even make sense to connect the extended Hiona St with Hienaloli Rd which
intersects with Hualalai Rd. That way, critical infrastructure redundancy/backup is provided
for 180/Mamalahoa Hwy.
I hope this proposal makes a lot of sense and I am looking forward to your response.
Mahalo!
Cheers,
Gunnar Hillert
Phone: 770-451-4372
[1] http://qpublic9.qpublic.net/hi_hawaii_display.php?county=hi_hawaii&KEY=750030230000
[2] http://www.alohaliving.com/search/details/?idxid=HawaiiInformationService&searchstyle=mlsnum&mlsnu
m1=293933&mlsnum2=&mlsnum3=&mlsnum4=&mlsnum5=&mlsnum6=&mlsnum7=&mlsnum8=&mlsnum9=
&mlsnum10=&sorttype=price&sortdir=desc&resultview=list&linkmlsnum=293933