Those living in Kapaa, or driving through this once-peaceful town, have experienced maddening bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along the highway and/or the bypass over the past three years. As did a man who wrote The Garden Island Forum, reminiscing about the
Those living in Kapaa, or driving through this once-peaceful town, have experienced maddening bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along the highway and/or the bypass over the past three years. As did a man who wrote The Garden Island Forum, reminiscing about the good old days of the 1970s. I, too, remember the sole island traffic light on the Westside of Kauai. On most days, a dog slept in the middle of Kuhio Highway in front of what is now the Olympic Cafe. Try and picture that with today’s traffic and weep.
In addition to residents’ letters in TGI, visitors upset with traffic vow to never return to Kauai. One visitor pleaded for residents to stop the corporations and governments from sucking the soul out of Kauai.
I recently attended a county roads/traffic meeting at the Kapaa Neighborhood Center. Oddly, most of the time was spent describing county projects around the island with mention of road paving as the major accomplishment in the Kapaa/Wailua area and a short discussion time tacked on at the end.
The county has no plans to build additional roads in the Kapaa/Wailua area, and the state (DOT) plan is vague. When I commented about the rash of building permits issued by the county that overlooked our traffic jams, the mayor and department heads encouraged me to attend the General Plan Update (GPU) and Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings.
The next GPU CAC meeting is Tuesday, 2:30 to 5 p.m. Moikeha Building, Room 2A/B, the Planning Commission room (next to DMV).
I intend to speak during the comment period of thi meeting. Written comments can also be turned in to the CAC at that time or mailed.
One point is that up-zoning from agriculture to urban of the proposed massive 800-house development, Hokua Place, behind the Kapaa Middle School, needs to be stopped. An additional 1,600 vehicles pouring into downtown Kapaa or onto the bypass, plus a commercial center, will make us insane.
Therefore, I will ask the GPU and CAC members go back to the last GPU document of the year 2000, and delete the recommendation that 93 agricultural acres behind the middle school be up-zoned to urban. It’s understandable that predictions made by the GPU members 15 years ago could not envision the population pressure on roads and other infrastructure needed for the future.
But I hope the GPU will come to terms with it now. And don’t forget that there are already three hotels permitted in the Wailua corridor, another 1,600 cars to soon make life more miserable. Please go to the Jan. 19 meeting, and ask that no further building permits be granted until adequate roads are in place and the up-zoning rescinded.
It’s up to us to speak up now and save the soul of Kauai before it’s too late.
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Gabriela Taylor is a resident of Keapana Valley.
