Drivers traveling along the rolling Kapaa Quarry Road in Kailua can easily miss 25 mph speed limit signs and even a traffic light near Kalaheo High School that are regularly blocked by overgrown vegetation.

In town, bushy foliage in the median near the intersection of Pali Highway and South Vineyard Boulevard not only blocks a 30 mph sign, but grows so high that even the breeze cannot enter the apartment windows of Dana Loveless, 69, and Lana Furukawa, 79, who have lived in the Prince Tower at Queen Emma Gardens in Nuuanu for 40 years.

Kalani Kuloloia, a 39-year-old teacher from Waimanalo, worries that overgrown vegetation along Oahu roads creates a safety hazard for drivers blocked from being able to read road signs.

“They’ve really got to do something about it,” Kuloloia said. “Not only does it not look nice, it can be unsafe.”

There are minimum requirements listed in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices to ensure that drivers have clear access to see traffic signs and signals, according to prominent traffic defense attorney Pat McPherson.

Drivers who get cited in areas where speed limits and other signs are blocked by vegetation can get their traffic cases dismissed. The chance is “about 100% if you’ve got pictures,” McPherson said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, labor shortages in state and city maintenance departments and a switch to sustainable yet less efficient weedkiller have hampered the frequency and quality of roadside maintenance.

Prior to the pandemic, the state Department of Transportation would regularly schedule landscaping along state highways around the island every five weeks, using its own maintenance staff, inmates and labor from six landscape contractors, according to DOT Director Ed Sniffen.

Since COVID-19, DOT now has only half of its maintenance staffing with only three to four external contractors, Sniffen said.

“It became a lot more difficult to get contractors who were available because they were having a hard time finding labor and resources,” Sniffen said. “They don’t have enough manpower to staff their own companies.”

With understaffed crews, DOT has approached roadside maintenance differently in recent years. While DOT has always prioritized areas of overgrowth that block road signs or obstruct driver visibility, Sniffen said maintenance crews now only cut about 10 to 15 feet up a hill along a state highway before moving on to a new site.

“We know that that’s the sight-distance requirement,” he said. “Beyond that, that’s not the priority. So we move on to make sure we hit all those areas of sight-distance priority first before we start clearing out the area behind it. Because of the limited resources we have, now we need to really prioritize the areas that we’re going to hit.”

Staffing at the city’s Department of Facility Maintenance, primarily responsible for maintenance of city roads, also was hit by the pandemic that saw increased retirements and delayed hiring practices while the city struggled to recruit and conduct job interviews, department officials wrote in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

The recently approved city budget incorporated vacant salary funds within the department’s budget instead of a placement within a citywide provisionary salary fund account, which will allow the facilities maintenance department to identify funding to fill vacant positions while requesting approval to fill those positions, officials said.

It’s about jurisdiction

Roadside landscaping depends on whether Oahu’s streets and highways are the responsibility of the city, state or private companies.

Though the state and city schedule road maintenance separately, Sniffen said that in neighborhoods like Nuuanu where both state and city roads frequently need maintenance, collaboration between the state and city is necessary.

“We try to collaborate as much as possible because we know the public doesn’t really care whose road it is, whose job it is to cut it,” Sniffen said.

The difference in landscaping priorities is clear along Waipio Point Access Road, across from Waipahu High School.

Outside of a fence around the school lies overgrown foliage. Inside the fence, the school’s lawn was neatly trimmed.

But along Waipio Point Access Road, heading into Waipio Soccer Complex, thick stalks of California grass that creep into the road reach the roof of Keoni Miller’s truck.

“When I drive back on (Waipio Point Access Road), the California grass whips against my passenger-side window,” said Miller, a 53-year-old bar manager from Nuuanu.

According to the state website, the road’s maintenance is the responsibility of “various” owners, including Waipahu High School, the Navy and the Ted Makalena Golf Course.

More frequent weed overgrowth is also a symptom of the city’s and state’s search to find an efficient organic weedkiller. Sniffen said that “it’s been a challenge” to constantly address weed overgrowth with the combination of an understaffed crew and weak weedkiller.

Sniffen said last year DOT made the decision to not use glyphosate-based solutions such as Roundup to control weeds. “And because of that, smaller areas that you see patches growing out, we have to hit a lot more. We’re still trying out different products that are environmentally friendly, but we haven’t determined one that’s safe and works well in order to use in large quantities,” Sniffen said.

Miller said that he notices more trash in the medians once grass is cut because people litter in bushes that become overgrown. He also said homeless people roam the medians near the intersection of Pali Highway and South Vineyard Boulevard and walk in the street when they’re overgrown, which can be dangerous to both drivers and pedestrians.

The Nuuanu Neighborhood Board receives calls from residents who notify them of overgrowth, particularly along Pali Highway near Waokanaka Street. Both roads belong to the state, and Patrick Smith, a Nuuanu Neighborhood Board member, said DOT crews come once they’re notified of landscaping concerns.

Sniffen said the state greatly appreciates the public’s involvement in alerting DOT of overgrown areas.

Despite the frequent calls and complaints, Ron Hamilton, 54, a medical transportation driver who drives eight hours per day, always notices tree cutters.

“Every day, I see people cutting trees mostly in town, but all over the island,” Hamilton said.

The state and the city both primarily become aware of overgrowth when notified by the public.

The city’s Department of Facility Maintenance relies on residents to provide information via the Honolulu 311 app, a service specifically designed for the public to report nonemergency issues.

Nuuanu residents are acutely aware of overgrown vegetation in their neighborhood. Because of its location and frequent rainfall, overgrowth is common, said Dick Gushman, 77, a 42-year resident of Pacific Heights.

“This area gets rain and sun every day, so everything grows really fast,” Miller said. “The overgrowth for sure needs to be monitored.”