LIHU‘E — The state recently started to craft a Pedestrian Master Plan in an effort to identify routes that pedestrians feel need improvements in infrastructure to become safer and more enjoyable. “For years planning was for cars, it was for
LIHU‘E — The state recently started to craft a Pedestrian Master Plan in an effort to identify routes that pedestrians feel need improvements in infrastructure to become safer and more enjoyable.
“For years planning was for cars, it was for highways, and nobody thought about pedestrians,” said Kaua‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum, adding that a large percentage of the population does not drive.
But in the last eight years, there has been a “dramatic” change nationwide toward developing “livable, walking communities” as part of smart growth, he said.
“Several initiatives have sprung out around that; one is called Complete Streets,” he said. “Complete Streets is the concept that streets are for all users, not just cars. They’re for walking, they’re for bicycles, they’re for people with disabilities.”
Many streets on Kaua‘i, however, have limited or no capacity for pedestrians or bikes.
“They’re not safe for pedestrians and so people are much less likely to walk,” he said.
Residents are so used to driving, Bynum said, that the majority of car trips are under one mile.
Safe route to learning
Under the same line of thought, the Pedestrian Master Plan also addresses a safe walking-to-schools environment.
The Safe Routes to School, a nationwide movement to create safe and convenient ways for children to walk or bike to and from school, states that in the 1960s over half of the students used to walk to school.
The current average number of children in Hawai‘i who walk to school is under 10 percent, according to SRTS.
Bynum said every elementary school on the island looks like a “mad house” in the morning because of the traffic.
A five-way intersection by St. Catherine’s School and Kapa‘a High School, for example, is so dangerous that children who live just a few blocks away don’t walk to school, he said.
Last month Bynum and Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. participated in an event called “Walking School Bus,” in which parents walked down Kawaihau Road, picked up about 40 children and walked them to school.
The event was to demonstrate the need for safe walking and to promote health and fitness for children.
Bynum said the experience helped him realize there are children willing to walk to school, but their parents don’t feel it’s safe because there aren’t proper accommodations.
Some of the parents drive their children only a quarter of a mile, for safety reasons, he said.
The county budget has $100,000 to design better routes to schools, Bynum said.
Another reason to promote walking to schools comes from a recent change in policy in the Department of Education.
The DOE, as of Jan. 1, increased the distance that students in grades 6-12 must reside from school to be eligible for public school bus service. They now must live 1.5 miles from school.
The distance that children in grades K-5 must reside from school to qualify for school bus service is still one mile.
Bus vs. car
The Kaua‘i Bus continues to grow, even with budget cuts and increased rates.
“Our bus ridership is up dramatically over the last four years,” Bynum said.
The Kaua‘i Bus recently created the Park & Ride program, in which riders can leave their cars in a designated area and catch an express bus to Lihu‘e.
All Park & Ride facilities are designated by signage. These sites currently include the Kapa‘a New Town Park, the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, the Hanapepe Multipurpose Building, the Waimea Athletic Field and the Kekaha Tennis Courts.
Those routes run only on weekdays, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Regular bus routes around Kaua‘i run from 5:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. on weekdays and from 7:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Saturdays.
Currently there are no Sunday services for the bus, despite an attempt from some Kaua‘i County Council members to include $230,000 funding for it in the upcoming fiscal year, starting July 1.
The council, however, might soon revisit the idea by proposing a six-cents-per-gallon fuel tax to fund the Sunday bus service.
“We have this portion of the population who is dependent on the bus, and by not providing them services they’re stuck at home. It’s not fair,” Bynum said. “So I feel really strongly about providing Sunday and evening services.”
Lihu‘e Town
Hardy Street in Lihu‘e is set to become a Complete Street, after a revamp to make it more pedestrian-friendly, with new sidewalks and crosswalks.
The funds to convert the street had already been secured three years ago, but the administration used it for something else, which could potentially set the project back by years, according to Bynum.
New funding, however, has already been secured, and Bynum said the setback will probably be about a year.
Lihu‘e residents can expect improvements in that area beginning as early as January 2012, if all goes smoothly.
After Hardy Street is dealt with, the council plans to make Eiwa Street a pedestrian-only road. The street links Hardy and Rice streets, and sits between the Historic County Building and Big Save.
The intersections at Eiwa Street are considered dangerous and non-functional, besides clogging traffic in Lihu‘e.
Multi-use path
The multi-use path in Kapa‘a will one day be extended to connect Anahola to Lihu‘e.
There are six phases to the project, and the first two have been completed. Phase I was in Lydgate Park, in Wailua; and phase II was between the north end of Kuna Beach to Lihi Park, in Kapa‘a.
Phase III will connect Lydgate and Lihi parks. Funding for phase III has been secured and the project is due to go up to bid any day. It should take about two years to complete, according to Bynum.
The whole project should take another 10 years to complete and will ultimately end in Lihu‘e downtown.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The council will soon look at projects to improve ADA accessibility, Bynum said.
“In some of these things we’re in violation of law,” said Bynum, adding that ADA requires counties to remove obstacles. “We’re trying to comply as a county.”
Some of the first improvements proposed are by the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
“It is exciting because a lot of these concepts are getting endorsed at the federal level, at the state level, and at the county level,” said Bynum, adding that the idea that we have to be a car-oriented world is changing.
“The world is changing, we have to change, we have to be more sustainable and energy efficient and environmentally friendly,” Bynum said.
Go to www.kauai.gov and www.hawaiisaferouteshui.org for more information.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
