Because of federal red tape, there will be no new Kapa`a bypass road built in the near future. Steve Kyono, who heads the state’s highway division on Kaua`i, said the decision to utilize federal funds for a bypass has extended
Because of federal red tape, there will be no new Kapa`a bypass road built in
the near future.
Steve Kyono, who heads the state’s highway division on
Kaua`i, said the decision to utilize federal funds for a bypass has extended
the timeline on the proposed project.
“We have to revise our whole process”
in order to “conform to the National Environmental Policy Act, plus state
laws,” Kyono explained at a Kaua’i County Council meeting Wednesday.
Kyono
predicted at least two years of paperwork even after a consultant is selected,
hopefully early next year.
“There are a tremendous amount of wetlands
involved,” he said.
“We’re shifting gears and using federal money, which
means we first have to go back and validate what’s already been done (in
previous studies),” he added.
But Kyono said while all the studies are
ongoing, the highway department is planning improvements on the temporary
bypass route.
When questioned by Councilman Brian Baptiste on whether a
traffic signal on the bypass route is in the works, Kyono said, “We’re not
looking for a traffic signal.”
But Kyono did say that the bypass, currently
not a 24-hour route because it passes through Amfac cane fields, will likely be
transformed into a round-the-clock route after Amfac harvests the cane crop
currently in the ground.
Kyono said discussions with two new property
owners is ongoing, and that Amfac is out of the picture.
Staff writer
Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and
dwilken@pulitzer.net
