State transportation officials have settled on a plan to alleviate a traffic and safety problem of pedestrians crossing a coastal highway on Oahu’s North Shore to see turtles.
The state Department of Transportation intends to proceed with a relatively small rerouting of Kamehameha Highway about 50 feet inland from where it exists today alongside Laniakea Beach.
Construction is projected to cost $12 million and take 24 months starting at the end of 2023 if regulatory approvals, design work and a contract come together without difficulty.
The agency detailed its plan in a draft environmental assessment published Monday by the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
Early last year HDOT Highways Division Deputy Director Ed Sniffen said he preferred a more significant realignment of the two-lane highway around 1,000 feet or so inland to provide longer-lasting protection against sea level rise and coastal erosion.
But a $70 million cost, six-year construction timetable and risk of disturbing historical and cultural features in the area led the agency to opt for the plan it is now pursuing as a quicker solution until the more major realignment can be done.
“This is an interim solution,” Sniffen said. “We think it’s money well spent.”
Several other alternatives also were analyzed but passed over, including adding crosswalks to the existing highway, prohibiting parking on the mauka side of the existing highway by installing a guardrail, and building a rerouted highway about 60 feet inland after raising the level of the land by six to 10 feet.
Kathleen Pahinui, chairwoman of the North Shore Neighborhood Board, said people parking on the mauka side of the highway to go turtle sightseeing have been a problem that has worsened over at least two decades and caused maddening traffic daily for area residents.
“It’s just terrible,” she said. “It’s a real quality-of-life issue for residents. We just need to get it fixed.”
HDOT said 200 to 300 pedestrians per hour — mainly tourists — cross the highway at Laniakea Beach during peak periods between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. There are no crosswalks along the stretch where 50 to 70 cars can park.
In 2013 the agency installed concrete barriers to prevent parking alongside the road, but a state judge ordered them removed in 2015 after five residents filed a lawsuit claiming that the barriers were unlawfully restricting public beach access.
In 2019 a 10-year-old boy visiting from California was badly injured by a car as he crossed the highway, adding more pressure to resolve the issue.
A more temporary effort to provide some relief involves the city creating a condensed parking area on the mauka side of the highway, which would replace roadside parking and direct beach visitors to cross the roadway in one spot.
The state’s plan includes converting the mauka lane of the existing highway, a stretch of about 1,000 feet where no homes front the beach, to a pedestrian and bicycle path. The makai lane would be partially removed and replaced with vegetation.
For the new section of highway, no parking would be possible on either side. However, an area between the new roadway and pedestrian path would provide parking for about 90 cars, with access at the intersection of Pohaku Loa Way and the highway near the end of the beach where a turning lane would help manage traffic.
To build the realigned road, which also would include a new highway bridge at Lauhulu Stream, HDOT will need to acquire about 3 acres of land from the city and Kamehameha Schools.
Pahinui said she couldn’t comment on the state’s plan because she had yet to read the roughly 600-page filing, though many community members are expected to weigh in on the proposal during a 30-day public comment period under the environmental review process.
To view the plan:
>> Go online to oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov.
To comment:
>> Email HDOT official Brian Tyau at Brian.Tyau@hawaii.gov and project consultant Rachel Adams of WSP USA Inc. at rachel.adams@wsp.com.
