LIHU‘E — Proposals to construct a pedestrian walkway that would span Kuhio Highway by the old Seashell Restaurant in Wailua, and ways to ease traffic congestion around the Coco Palms Resort, dominated a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday. Steven
LIHU‘E — Proposals to construct a pedestrian walkway that would span Kuhio Highway by the old Seashell Restaurant in Wailua, and ways to ease traffic congestion around the Coco Palms Resort, dominated a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission meeting Tuesday.
Steven Kyono, who heads the state Department of Transportation Highways Division office on Kaua‘i, said government officials want leaders with Coco Palms LLC to build the bridge to reduce the risk of traffic and motorist accidents occurring on parts of Kuhio Highway fronting the old hotel.
Coco Palms LLC leaders are requesting permits from the commission to restore and rehabilitate the one-time flagship hotel of Kaua‘i.
The hotel was severely damaged by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992, and has sat in disrepair and has been vacant since then.
Leaders with Coco Palms LLC, meanwhile, also are proposing traffic improvements at intersections by the proposed reconstruction project so as not to add to daily congestion that exists in East Kaua‘i today.
The topics came up during a commission meeting at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
The permit requests are up for vote by the commission, but the body postponed action Tuesday to review a revised plan from leaders with Coco Palms LLC that calls for reduced density and lower building heights at some spots at the proposed project.
The intent behind the lower structures is to create a sense of more open space at the resort site located in front of Wailua Bay.
To questions by Commissioner Abigail Santos, Kyono said DOT leaders want the developer to build the pedestrian bridge to link with the old Seashell Restaurant to reduce the risk of accidents as people cross the state highway to access the beach or the hotel, if it is to be rebuilt.
The overpass would separate motorist traffic from pedestrians, Kyono said.
An accident that occurred on the highway in front of the hotel some years ago lends strength to arguments to have the pedestrian bridge built, Kyono said.
Having another crosswalk built somewhere on the highway between the beach and hotel would not be a wise choice, Kyono said.
The “compelling issue” behind building the overpass is “pedestrian safety,” Kyono said.
State DOT leaders foresee the day when a fourth lane will be added to the highway fronting the hotel, as a way to relieve ongoing traffic congestion in Wailua and Kapa‘a, Kyono said.
The additional lane will make it even more difficult for people to cross the highway in front of the hotel, Kyono said.
Through the construction of the pedestrian overpass, DOT leader are hoping to “minimize” exposure of pedestrians to traffic, he said.
The bridge would be built 16 feet above the ground in conformance with state DOT requirements, said Richard Weiser, a manager partner with Coco Palms LLC.
Some audience members like Cheryl Lovell-Obtake, however, fretted that the bridge height might not be sufficient, and wondered whether the bridge should be built to a higher elevation.
Machinery put on truck-pulled trailers could exceed the 16-foot height limit and damage the under portions of the pedestrian bridge as trucks roll under the structure, Lovell-Obatake said.
Kyono indicated he wouldn’t want to see any accident like that occur, but noted that DOT officials are not “obligated to regulate commercial loads that exceed the 16-foot height limit for the pedestrian bridges.”
In cases where trucks with commercial loads couldn’t pass safely under existing pedestrian bridges in the state, truck drivers have taken different routes, Kyono said.
Santos wondered whether state DOT officials were taking unprecedented action by requiring a developer to build the pedestrian overpass for safety reasons.
Kyono said the request is not unusual, and noted that pedestrian walkways are a common sight in West Kaua‘i.
He noted that four such structures already span the highway in West Kaua‘i, and that some may have been built by plantations for the benefit of their workers and families.
A pedestrian bridge, for one, spans the highway by the Eleele Shopping Center, he said. Another pedestrian walkway spans the highway in Kaumakani, he said.
Related to his project, Weiser said his architects redesigned the bridge to be “open air.”
The bridge would boast guardrails and lighting for times when people would cross the bridge at night for dinners at the revamped Seashell Restaurant, Weiser said.
When asked about alternatives to the pedestrian bridge, Rodney Funakoshi, a project manager for the developer, said a shuttle-bus system taking resort visitors to the Seashell Restaurant could be considered.
Under the proposed plans for the pedestrian overpass, Michael T. Swanson, a managing director of DLR Group, an O‘ahu-based consultant for the developer, said a separate building would be constructed on the mauka side of the highway to house an elevator and stairway.
The elevator would then take people up to the pedestrian bridge so they can get to and from the restaurant, Swanson said.
Funakoshi also said the developer is proposing to make road improvements around the proposed reconstructed project.
One such project would unfold at the intersection of Kuamo‘o Road and Kuhio Highway, and another would involve extending a right-turn lane at Haleilio Road back to Apana Road. Haleilio road leads to homes in Wailua Houselots.
Another proposal calls for another right-turn lane that would turn mauka off the highway into the porte cochere of the old hotel, Funakoshi said.
As way to help with traffic circulation in and around the proposed reconstruction project, Commissioner Randy Nishimura wondered whether all motorists could enter the hotel at one point and exit the hotel at another point.
But Funakoshi noted that both ingress and egress at different parts of the hotel site would allow for better traffic circulation.
In other matters, Lorne Ogmundson, president of the Wailua Bayview Condominium Owners Association, said he met with Weiser and his people on the matter of the reconstruction of the Seashell Restaurant.
He said he was heartened to hear the structure would not obstruct the view of those who live in condominiums located immediately behind the restaurant.
At the same time, Ogmundson wanted the commission to insert restrictions “that would run with the land” that would control noise that could result from operation of a restaurant.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
