Bridge project should be finished by now
We have passed by Hanapepe town many times over the course of two years. What is with that structure that looks like a bridge? Now they have PVC pipes, big ones, running along the side and on top of the bridge.
Why is it taking them so long to build the bridge? Steel and iron along the side of Hanapepe bridge in Hanapepe town, it is just hanging there and nothing is being done.
The state or county have no money to complete the project? Why the hold on the funds for the materials?
I was just curious what is going on with that bridge. It should have been completed by now.
Dean Sabado, Honolulu
Mahalo for service improvements
An overdue thanks to Mayor Derek Kawakami for getting right to work and doing lots of small fixes that don’t cost a ton of money and make a difference.
The express line at the DMV registration area is a godsend. I went in early December to pay my renewal, and saw a snaking line of 14 people. I dreaded standing for a half hour, due to a back issue.
I saw a sign: Express registration. I peered behind it, and saw a cashier and only one person at her station.
Asking if I was in the right line, I was greeted with a smile and Kara said, “Sure.” I said mahalo as I left, and she said, “It’s all thanks to our new mayor.” I left with a big smile.
Went back next week to redo property exemption. Wow! This week, a row of chairs so people waiting don’t have to stand in line so long! This is real customer service. Mahalo.
I don’t know if county Department of Public Works or the mayor deserves the thanks for recent paving improvements along the portion of Waha (Road in Kalaheo) going mauka. It was in terrible condition, heavily used and overgrown. Mahalo, also, for trimming back the trees and brush on this road, which scratches our cars since it is so narrow.
Everyone complains, but the county doesn’t often get to hear about all the things that are going right.
The small, caring improvements mean a lot to people. Great use of the tax dollar.
One last thought. Many older folks, eligible for exemptions, etc., may not know how to use county websites. And the renewal forms for car registrations, etc., get lost in the huge piles of junk mail we receive. Maybe the Office of Elderly Affairs can help with this. Or ask escrow companies to let older folks know to file for their exemptions when they buy or sell a house. Not everyone has younger family to handle this.
Thanks again, Mayor Kawakami, Department of Public Works, and Kara, the cashier with aloha at DMV.
Virginia Beck, Kalaheo
Really, the bigger question should be: “Could the island have used the money, spent to build a temporary bridge, for something else”?……I don’t know…..maybe new bathrooms on South Side Beaches??
I’m going to guess that monstrosity, of a temporary bridge, cost $15-20 MILLION…..only to have it torn down when the new bridge is complete in 10 years (sarcasm).
Could we have used the one-way bridge, 100 yards north of the bridge, for traffic going West, and then worked on half of the new bridge, which East traffic continued? I’m sure there is a reason why we did not. It would have sucked, but I would have sucked it up for new bathrooms on the South Side.
And yet, during WWII, we could build a bridge for tanks to cross, while under enemy fire, in two days. But now we have Unions.