PO‘IPU — Carol Ann Davis has lived in Po‘ipu since the mid-1960s and still remembers when the now-Prince Kuhio Condominiums was the only hotel in Po‘ipu and people used to fish along the shoreline.
Many changes have happened since then, but what concerns Davis and other residents is that the roads have not.
“I live up the street and when I want to come down here (Po‘ipu Shopping Village) for coffee, I can’t even walk there,” Davis said as she walked along Po‘ipu Road, where parked cars blocked parts of the designated shoulder lane. “I have to walk on the grass. It’s so dangerous right here.”
To help turn the problem around, Davis and nearly 50 people took part in a County of Kaua‘i backed three-day study spearheaded by Get Fit Kaua‘i that analyzed current issues along Po‘ipu Road and provided potential solutions as the area around it develops.
County Planning Director Michael Dahilig said certain areas along Po‘ipu Road are earmarked in the county’s comprehensive plans for increased development over the next few decades, which could add at least another 1,000 resort units along a two-mile section of the road between The Shops at Kukui‘ula and the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa.
“There’s a lot of units that are still meant to be built out, so we could simply say, ‘Let’s take this two-lane road and make it four lanes,’ but is that really the smartest thing to do,” Dahilig said. “There is going to be an intensification in the use of this corridor, so let’s get ahead of the curve and figure out how to make this corridor better.”
Dahilig said the study may be the first one of its kind on the island. He said it’s particularly important for the town, which houses a mixture of residential and commercial properties as well as the culturally significant 13-acre Kaneiolouma heiau complex.
“You want to have a traffic pattern that is predictable, safe and doesn’t need much explanation,” Dahilig said. “Usually with developments, you just go in, find out how many cars you need to accommodate and build a road, so this idea of a built environment from a health standpoint is new and is something that is just beginning to catch on nationwide.”
Bev Brody, Get Fit Kaua‘i spokeswoman, declined to provide specific study costs but said the move is becoming increasingly important as residents and visitors try to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines.
“I think it (Po‘ipu Road) is safer than some of our roads, but I don’t think it’s a safe place purely to walk or bike,” Brody said. “There are so many parked cars there and people are forced to walk or bike in the road and that scares me.”
The recommendations provided by the organization and two visiting walkable community experts during a May 13 public meeting included creating narrow street gateways that encourage motorists to drive at slower speeds; placing roundabouts at two heavily traveled intersections along Po‘ipu Road; and using all of the public right of way available for a sidewalk, bicycle lane and narrow roadway.
In all, Dahilig said only about 50 of the 80 feet of right of way available is being used on the current road.
Terry Kamen, who has lived in Po‘ipu for nearly four decades, said he was pleased with the recommendations by the county but acknowledged that it may be years before some of it may be implemented.
“I think they came up with lots of beautiful pictures and designs, and I’m told that the county is really going to follow up and make this happen,” Kamen said after the May 13 public meeting at The Shops at Kukui‘ula. “Their ideas are great, but let’s just see if we can follow up with it and get some things accomplished.”
• Darin Moriki, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com.
