Weekday morning traffic on Piikoi Street is atrocious.
The new Ala Moana-area condos with their many new residents don’t help much. Neither do the tour buses, concrete trucks, container trucks, lost tourists and everyone else headed daily toward the H-1 West and H-1 East on-ramps between 7 and 8:30 a.m.
The Piikoi traffic after Kapiolani is allotted barely 30 seconds to pass each light, while the cross traffic on King and Beretania flows freely for one full minute. Feeder traffic from King and Beretania flows into Piikoi as well, exacerbating the backup problem at each light.
Whether in the form of better synchronization of traffic lights on Piikoi, a redefining of the unclear lanes going toward Wilder, a part-time morning closure of the Piikoi on-ramp, and/or increasing the traffic flow time at each light on Piikoi and decreasing the King and Beretania flow time, something has got to give. And soon.
Susan Yamashita
Nuuanu
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Hurricanes shouldn’t have people’s names
Many years ago, some federal employees in Washington, D.C. thought it would be very funny to give women’s names to hurricanes. That made some women mad, and they petitioned the government to use men’s names also.
And that’s when the present system was born.
In the past month we have suffered two record-breaking hurricanes — Harvey and Irma. Many people have perished and cost of recovery is measured in the billions.
Think of the numerous men and women named Harvey and Irma. Do they think it a laugh to have the same name as a disaster? And how do the Irma’s and Harvey’s kids feel when they are teased on the playground?
In this nation we attach famous names to beautiful buildings, monuments and impressive countrysides — think of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
What to do? Use a 21st-century approach. Give each hurricane a personal identification number (PIN), a mixture of letters and numbers.
John A. Sullivan
Hawaii Kai
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Change ‘walk’ sign rule for pedestrians
Pedestrians have an expectation of a warning comparable to yellow traffic lights for motorists. But Hawaii Revised Statute 291C-33 allows crossing only when the white “walk” sign is illuminated. Starting to cross during the flashing red is prohibited.
I have timed these lights. The “walk” sign is sometimes illuminated for only 2 seconds, followed by a 20-second flashing red countdown. Many pedestrians assume the countdown indicates the time allowed to cross. Few reasonable pedestrians would choose to wait an entire cycle if the countdown exceeds 10 seconds. Most pedestrians get away with violating HRS 291C-33 in ignorance, but the penalty if caught is $130.
Traffic engineers could ameliorate this by rebalancing the “walk” and flashing countdown. But bureaucratic inertia suggests that the government will not act.
The Legislature should amend HRS 291C-33 to conform to reasonable pedestrian expectations by making the flashing red or countdown a warning only. Pedestrians deserve a reasonable warning consistent with the yellow light afforded motorists.
John Keiser
Makiki
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Acosta deserves to be commended
Thank you for the heartwarming article on former police officer Joseph Acosta and his ministry to the homeless (“Former Honolulu police officer changed careers to help the homeless,” Star-Advertiser, June 1). The article was well written by reporter Dan Nakaso. It shows that a person can make a difference in preventing a huge problem in society from getting bigger and overwhelming for the government and community.
I’m glad that the Honolulu Police Department is partnering with Acosta in this endeavor. I’m sure Acosta’s work will influence others to do the same or at least join in with him.
Kindness, caring and compassionate are characteristics of Acosta. He and his family are to be commended. It was nice to see this story on the front page of your newspaper.
Jeff Yamashita
Waipahu
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Remember GIs who served in Vietnam
When watching the forthcoming PBS series on the Vietnam War, remember the GIs.
From all social, economic and cultural backgrounds. From across the United States and its territories. From its rural spaces, villages, towns and cities.
As draftees or enlistees, they stepped forward. Black, white, Native American, Mexican-American, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander — they melded together through their shared American upbringing.
They followed orders, supported each other in times of peril, exhibited uncommon valor on the fields of combat and completed their assigned missions. The U.S. Army did not do these GIs a favor by rotating unit officers to the rear after only six months of field duty, while these GIs were required to complete their remaining months of a year’s service in the field, under new and untested officer leadership, which sometimes put their lives at risk unnecessarily.
These GIs gave their very best.
Robert K. Wight
1st Lt., U.S. Army Infantry, Vietnam 1969
Nuuanu
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Law enforcement needs our support
The good news is that overall crime in Hawaii fell in 2016 (“Hawaii stomping out crime,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 1).
While advances in technology may have had some impact in the overall reduction for burglary and property crimes, due to security systems becoming less costly and easy to install, I firmly believe the outstanding performance by our men and women in law enforcement is primarily responsible for helping to achieve the lowest crime rate on state records going back to 1975.
However, we must remain vigilant, as the bad news is that two of the most serious crimes — rape and murder — were both up by double digits.
We must continue to support our law enforcement personnel in every possible way, as they are and always will be our front line and main resource in fighting crime.
Chuck Silberstein
Hawaii Kai
