Up to 287 miles of bikeways or trails are envisioned on Kaua’i in a newly-released state Department of Transportation master plan for bicycle paths statewide. Most of the new pathways are planned for mauka areas and coastline areas in high
Up to 287 miles of bikeways or trails are envisioned on Kaua’i in a newly-released state Department of Transportation master plan for bicycle paths statewide.
Most of the new pathways are planned for mauka areas and coastline areas in high population areas like Hanalei, Kilauea, Kapa’a, Lihu’e, Koloa and Waimea. Kaua’i currently has 22 miles of bike pathways.
The placement of the improvements, though apparently not funded yet, could ease traffic congestion in heavily populated areas on Kaua’i.
The bicycle plan for Kaua’i could support the intent behind resolution passed this year by the Kaua’i County Council calling for solutions to the island’s long-standing traffic problems. The measure was introduced by councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura.
She asked that the council support an integrated management transportation plan to address traffic congestion. Yukimura also asked DOT officials, other government agencies and interested organizations to work together to hammer out solutions, including increased use of bicycles.
Some residents voiced support for Yukimura’s plan, saying bicycling on a 23-mile bicycle and pedestrian path from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola could ease traffic woes from Wailua to Lihu’e.
One phase, a 2.3 mile section at Lydgate Park, has been completed. That phase and five other phases are proposed by Kaua’i County and will be developed with federal funds, according to Kaua’i County Public Works spokesman Doug Haigh.
The Kaua’i bicycle plan is part of the DOT’s “Bike Plan Hawaii 2003, a status report of bicycling conditions in Hawai’i and a master plan to enhance bicycling in the state.
In a report done by Kimura International Inc., an O’ahu-based consultant on the plan, Gov. Lingle said bicycling provides an opportunity to showcase Hawaii’s rich natural surroundings.
The Kaua’i plan calls for a coastline bicycle pathway from Maha’ulepu in Po’ipu to Waimea. A part of this route would run from Maluhia Road to Po’ipu, the consultant said.
Another part of the Kaua’i plan calls for a proposed bicycle pathway that would weave in and out of Lihu’e.
A portion of it would run mauka of the Isenberg residential subdivision in Lihu’e and in a northeasterly direction toward Wailua. Parts of the proposed route would run parallel to Kuhio Highway and near a proposed vehicular bypass road for northbound vehicles to Wailua, the consultant said.
This portion would link up with parts of the 23-mile bicycle and pedestrian pathway proposed from Nawiliwili Harbor and Anahola.
The Kaua’i bicycle plan also calls for the development of a bicycle path along Kilauea Road to the Kilauea Lighthouse, which is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A final phase of the Kaua’i bicycle plan calls for roads that would run to mauka areas in Hanalei District and then back along the coastline en route to Ha’ena.
The consultant said the expanded bicycle paths have their place on Kauai.
The consultant noted bicyclists would be better able to see all of the North Shore better if a bicycle path system were established in the area.
The consultant noted, however, that improvements to Kuhio Highway “will require special consideration, given narrow pavements.”
For the Kapa’a area, the consultant noted that the roadway between Waipouli and Kealia is heavily developed, and that bicyclists are required to share the road with motorists.
For the safety of bicyclists, the right-of-way on Kuhio Highway would have to widen to be fully used by bicyclists, the consultant said.
The study also acknowledged benefits from the conversion of parts of Rice Street from a two-lane road to a four-lane road in recent years.
While Rice Street in Lihu’e is too narrow for the inclusion of bicycle paths, efforts should be made to put bicycle paths on secondary streets such as Hardy, Umi and Puaole streets.
The planned improvements would march in step with recommendations by some business and county officials to reduce vehicular parking in parts of Lihu’e.
The intent is to make more parts of Lihu’e accessible by foot, or possibly by bicycle, to allow people a chance to interact with one another, creating an improved sense of community, businessmen and proponents of the plan have said.
The consultant also said the Kaua’i County General Plan calls on the county to support funding to develop Kaua’i’s highways.
Funding for improvements recommended in the state bicycle plan is likely to come from federal sources, the consultant indicated in the report.
Enacted after action by Congress in 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act recognized nationwide that bicycling and walking are part of a balanced transportation system.
Through the federal law, ten percent of a surface transportation program fund could be used for “transportation enhancement,” including bicycling, the consultant said.
Parts of the county’s General Plan support rural roads and highways on Kaua’i and that “some components of this vision have implications for bikeway planning,” the consultant said.
The consultant noted that some of these components call for safe bicycling and pedestrian routes and adoption by state and county agencies for a “flexible highway design” that could incorporate bicycle use and other transportation uses.
The statewide Hawai’i bicycle plan is an update of a plan that was prepared in 1977 and was adopted in 1994, the consultant said.
The new plan proposes an addition of 1,723 miles of bicycle facilities compared with 1,309 miles recommended in the 1994 plan.
There currently exists 208 miles of bicycle facilities throughout the state, up from 103 miles in 1994.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
