Kahekili Highway Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

For those who live in Kahalu’u, Ka’a'awa, Hau’ula, Punalu’u, La’ie, or even Kahuku you are all familiar with the traffic problem starting on Kahekili Highway at the beginning of Likelike Highway in Kaneohe and continues on through Kahalu’u on Kamehameha Highway. This traffic problem has been going on for years, but has recently become increasingly worse. Oahu’s population growth can be blamed for its infamous traffic and so this region of the island is no exception, but this region happens to be where I reside, so I have had the opportunity to closely monitor this on-going problem.

Monday through Friday, before sunrise, beginning at 6:00 am is when bumper to bumper traffic starts in Kahalu’u around Ahuimanu Road and Ahuimanu Place going towards Kaneohe. In the morning, it can take me about 15 minutes from Ahuimanu Road. to Haiku Road, which is only approximately 3 miles. Without traffic this route should only take about 3 minutes. This morning traffic lasts until about 9:00 am. For the after work flow going the opposite direction from Haiku Road to Kahalu’u, this traffic-jam begins at about 3:00 pm and can last up until 7:00 pm!

A few years ago, the Kahekili Highway had some major improvements in the Kaneohe town region, which lead to the three lane expansion and sidewalk additions. The highway improvements were great and sidewalks helped out walking pedestrians. On the downside, this 3 lane expansion has created a ”bottle necking” effect that I have just described above. The 3 lanes narrow down to 1 lane at the Haiku Road intersection and this leds to bumper-to-bumper traffic in both directions.

Recently, this commuter traffic disaster has begun to bleed over into all days and hours of the week. I find myself on a Saturday at 10:00 am sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic going either direction. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I decided to attend my Kahalu’u Neighborhood Board meeting a few months ago because I heard their main agenda for the evening would be on TRAFFIC. The meeting was packed with concerned Kahalu’u residents that were getting fed up with the current traffic situation just like me. Attending the meeting were traffic specialists that explained the current situation and the solutions that they were exploring. They had been exploring alternatives such as: more lane expansions, adding extra turn lanes at some intersections, adjusting red light times, etc.

Key traffic speaker, former mayoral candidate and traffic expert Panos Prevedouros spoke about some traffic solutions that have not been explored such as tunneling new lanes, called underpasses. Another traffic expert spoke about another alternative such as bicycle riding as an option for residents to consider to stay in shape and avoid the grip lock traffic. It seems like local residents were concerned with the traffic, but they didn’t want to make any drastic changes to the roads or environment. They wanted to keep Kahalu’u country and feared too much change.

After the meeting my thoughts were filled with hopelessness and frustration. I agree with both sides of the argument. We need to solve the current traffic crisis that seems to be getting worse, but not at an environmental or community cost. In that debate it seems that the traffic in Kaneohe/Kahalu’u was here to stay, at least for now. The traffic experts and government officials are currently working on solutions, but making sure that it was in the budget and would not upset the community. Based on their time line, a firm resolution is going to take A LONG TIME.

I believe this debate spans through out all areas of the island and that is why it seems now days traffic on our islands is everywhere and getting worse. In the meantime, I will try and channel my road-rage, avoid peak traffic hours, and maybe even move…move to Alaska??!!