I have a problem with the roads of Hawaii.  Basically they all suck.  Yes, even the newly paved ones.  The worst are the patches…where they become potholes after some rain.  All the rocks just break up where there used to be a pothole, and then it becomes a bigger one with rocks everywhere…everywhere enough for cars to zoom pass them and have them ping off your tires and dent your car.  And it’s not like the patches were even good to start with…they are sloppy at best when covering the hole, and high enough to be called a speed bump.

But after driving last night, I came up with another annoyance.  REFLECTORS.  Most of the reflectors on Kapiolani Blvd are missing.  Yes, congested traffic does cause more wear and tear, but they don’t ALL fall off at once.  When one does, they should replace them, but instead, they just shrug it off.  How about the ever so important blue ones that stand out to tell the firefighters where the nearest fire hydrant is?  I hope the city would fix those first above all.

But I have another gripe about these reflectors.  THEY DON’T WORK.  GET ONES THAT DO.  Last night it was raining, and I couldn’t see the roads at all.  Not even a little bit.  Not to sound cocky, but I feel that I’m a pretty good driver with no violations on record.  But how do you expect people to stay in their own lane when they can’t even see them?  I was looking for reflectors so that I could stay in my own lane, but I found that either the reflector was missing or even if it was there, it wasn’t shining enough to tell you where the lane is.  They are basically useless.  When I lived in California for a year during my graduate years, I could clearly see all the lanes even with the hardest of rains.  What’s the deal with the Hawaii ones?  Is the city that cheap?  Almost none of the cars were in their own lane…no wonder accidents occur here more than other states.

And just one more gripe…please clear those trees on Kapiolani Blvd.  After the high winds this past week, there are A LOT OF HUGE BRANCHES on the ground.  They could have easily fallen on a moving car causing an accident, and maybe even death.  It can also cause some major damage if the car gets hit or even if the car swerves to avoid it, and ends up hitting another car or pedestrian.

Cut the trees, pick up the branches (don’t rely on the cars driving past them until they get smaller…it damages our cars you know), fix the potholes RIGHT, change then replace the reflectors, and please, can you pave the roads?  Thanks!

For starters I think I know what the smell might be from on the Ala Wai. A recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser revealed that the extremely high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the sediment (bottom muck) lead to the “notorious odor” of the Ala Wai Canal.

But where to those high level of nitrogen and phosphorous come from in the first place?

Well one place is sewer spill from 2006. Having millions of gallons of sewage dumped into the canal will definitely raise the levels. The other places are the rivers, canals, and run-off that feed into the Ala Wai. The article just mentioned fertilizer and pet waste from wash off in the streets and land but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few other types of waste heading into the canal.

So the big question is, how is the Ala Wai Canal going to get clean? The next dredging of the canal isn’t scheduled until 2013. The last one occurred in 2003 and cost $7.4 million. From what I’ve been told by others opinions is that the dredging cleaned the canal for all of a month. It was back to merky and nasty in no time.

The next idea is those mysterious plants near the Ala Wai Golf Course. Those plants, called ‘akulikuli have recently lost all available funding and have been all but halted. The plants were successful at removing pollutants in their limited locations but it is unknown how useful they would be if the project were expanded down the length of the Ala Wai. Also the project is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Getting an unproven method that kind of funding might not be possible.

Others fell that the streams and waterways leading to the Ala Wai must be cleaned. To me that sounds like a solution that would require rerouting thousands of sewer drains off road ways, diverting land based waste away from draining into feeder streams, and countless other efforts that would cost a lot of money. Probably a lot more that $1.5 million.

Another option would be educating everyone in the state what you can and can’t leave laying around. But even with education, stopping every animal, ferrel cat, dog etc, and every car from leaking fluids on the road, would be nearly impossible. Plus theres thousands of new people who come to the islands every single week. How do you stop all these people?

I think the best option to get the Ala Wai clean is to try out the ‘akulikuli plants and expand the project for the length of the Ala Wai Canal. As long as it doesn’t interfere with the use of the canal why not?

Plus the plants would make an otherwise dismal storm drain looking body of water, look a little better. Every time I go to the driving range I see birds and fish surrounding those plants. It looks a lot better than the trash I see at the other end of the Ala Wai. I see we find some state funding and go for the project.

For those of you that live in Waikiki you may notice a funk as you pass by the Ala Wai. This is nothing new you’re probably saying. The Ala Wai is a stinky run-off canal that has who knows what flowing down it. But I think the smell has gotten worse.

Ever since last march when the city pumped raw sewage into the Ala Wai, most people I know have become pretty sensitive to what’s happening around the Ala Wai. The sewage dump closed beaches and canceled sporting events last year and they don’t want to deal with dirty water or funky smell anymore.

Late last year the city decided to put in a large pipe that is for redirecting sewage and was implemented to avoid dumping more sewage into the Ala Wai. However, over the past few months, as I cruise down Sea Side in Waikiki I’ve noticed a particular funk in the air when I come to a stop at the Ala Wai. A funk that one little girl said smelled like rotten eggs yesterday on my walk.

I just want to be reassured that what I’m smelling isn’t the same funk that was created over a year ago by raw sewage. Especially if I’m going to head out in the Waikiki waters soon.

Do you know what that funk is?

The battle over the Hawaii Superferry continues to pull apart the State of Hawaii. Actually to be honest with you, I don’t really know anyone who is all for the Hawaii Superferry? All I hear is people that are against it. Be it for environmental (the most popular reason), economic, or for the sake of keeping the outer islands (those not overpopulated like Oahu) from being turned into a tourist haven, people all have their reasons for disliking the Superferry.

Although I don’t know the ins and outs of what the Superferry can really do environmentally, the arguments against the vessel seem legit. The one that rings loudest in my head is the spread of invasive bugs and seeds that was explained to me one day from a guy who getting a PHD studying bugs (I think that’s entomology?)

He mentioned that since a lot of those traveling to the other islands bringing their cars will most likely be hunters (not sure where he got the “most likely” from but it seems sound), these are the same people that will travel deeper into the woods. Some of these woods are much more pristine, Maui and Kauai, than they are here on Oahu. If those same plants and bugs have a faster mode of spreading than would normally, the spread of invasive species will be much more rapid. Makes sense.

The thing I don’t get is somewhat related. If it costs just as much, possibly less, to fly and rent a car, than it does to take the ferry, what good is it to take the ferry. And to top it off, you’ll spread invasive species with your vehicle?

The other argument you here is about the marine life and the ferry traveling too fast for some, namely whales, to get out of the way. Not sure on this one. I see big cargo boats traveling in and out of Honolulu Harbor all day long. Realize they don’t go that fast but I think those could do some damage fo sho. But I do get the speed issue.

Lastly, you here about the people who don’t want the ports built up, their roads cluttered with Oahu vehicles, and their islands being turned into a tourist traffic jam. This is understandable. However, I would imagine that if people are going over to other islands they would rent a car if they didn’t bring their own. As for the ports being built up… not sure what to tell you there. That’s a preference of people who live there, and one I can respect.

As for me, I’ll have to get back to you on the Superferry.

If you want to further your knowledge (or fuel your passion against the Superferry) try out some of these links.

Save Kahului Harbor was brought to my attention via this Superferry comment here on Aloha Update. It’s an interesting site with a funky starting picture of someone superimposed vomiting (sorry to ruin the surprise). This site actually has a ton of information following all the legislature and what people really have to say about the impact of the Superferry.

Hawaii made headlines in this NY Times article. Although all it says is that there were protesters in Kauai it was interesting to see the topic hit the nation. Also here’s one from USA Today.

Here what the Hawaii Superferry President and CEO had to say in this Honolulu Advertiser interview. It talks about the Environmental Impact Study, or really, the reason there wasn’t one.

One of the nice things of the blog format is that you can comment on articles you read. With that, we’d like to get your opinion on the Hawaii Superferry debate that is going on right now. Although we haven’t been following the story too much (we really should get on that) all we here is Superferry this and Superferry that.

The question is Allow the Superferry or Not? Just comment below on what you think Hawaii should do.