Question: My wife and I were driving over the Pali and noticed that the speed humps had been removed. Why are they gone and will they be replaced?
Answer: The raised pedestrian crossings on Kailua-bound Pali Highway at Upper Dowsett Avenue and Lower Dowsett Avenue were removed May 5 to accommodate highway paving and will be reinstalled when paving is complete, Shelly Kunishige, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday. The estimated time frame for the reinstallation is two weeks, weather permitting, she said.
The DOT said in a 2022 news release that raised crosswalks have helped reduce speeding through that stretch of Pali Highway. They were first installed in November 2020, it said.
Offensive license plates
Personalized license plates containing the letters “F” or “AF” would be issued on Oahu “only if the context is clear that the letters are not an abbreviation for “f—” or “as f—,” where “f—” is a well-known four-letter expletive,” according to proposed new rules the city says should curb offensive language sought by some vehicle owners.
This change is one of many proposed for the administrative rules governing personalized license plates, amid an increase in the number of applications being rejected because the requested plates “are profane, encourage violence, refer to genitalia or are sexually explicit in some way,” according to a news release from Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services.
An in-person public hearing about the proposed new rules is scheduled for next week. The proposed rules can be read in full at bit.ly/3L8jkrv. The hearing is set for May 24 at Kapolei Hale, starting at 9 a.m.
Among other proposed changes are one rule that would allow only vehicles manufactured in 1969 to have personalized license plates containing the number 69, and another that would prohibit words or connotations “that refer or relate to any group defined principally by race, ethnicity, creed, nationality, or sexual orientation,” regardless of whether the reference is positive, negative or neutral.
“The proposed rules bring renewed attention to ongoing efforts to ensure that personalized license plates in the City and County of Honolulu comply with statewide rules of decency,” the news release said.
Roadwork delayed
Downtown roadwork that the city had said would begin May 8 has been delayed until next week. “Beginning on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, road improvements will take place on Adams Lane, Bishop Street, Fort Street, King Street, Pali Highway, Punchbowl Street, and Richards Street … and not May 8 as indicated on the previous press release,” according to an update Tuesday from Honolulu County’s Department of Design and Construction Civil Division, which listed affected areas alphabetically, not in the order the work would proceed. The work is expected to start on Punchbowl Street, followed by Pali Highway and Fort Street, it said.
Mahalo
I was recently discharged from The Queen’s Medical Center on Punchbowl, and sincerely want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the nurses and nurse aides who assisted me. People like Nurse Maddie; Nurse Jerez; aides Dice, Jet, Gabi and, of course, Nurse Jim come to mind, but make no mistake — all of the nurses and aides on the seventh-floor Ewa Oncology Department; Emergency Department; and the third-floor Kamehameha Wing assisted me in such a kind and caring way. Add an outstanding team of QMC doctors who monitored me in every situation — all working in conjunction with our family oncologist, Dr. Ken Sumida. I knew I was in the best possible position to achieve my medical goals. May God bless each and every one of you mentioned here. I will never forget what you have done for me. — With gratitude, Eddie Nakata
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
