Construction Layout Does Not Easily Allow for Safe Pedestrian Routes

UPDATE  6/24/20  There were numerous community concerns about the width of the bike lanes, as it seems they are required to  be  4 feet wide. While the area is inaccessible we were able to snap some pix (see below) and perception was less than 4′. We checked with both County (DPW) and developer (HGV) and received quick replies from both.

DPW advised when approved in 2008 there were to be bike paths on the property, but we see that is not the case twelve years later.

HGV advised  the bike lanes in both directions from center of the bike lane stripe to the face of the curb is 5’ so we are above and beyond the minimal requirements

 

UPDATE  6/19/20 hERE IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AFTER 7 WEEKS OF TOTAL CLOSURE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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UPDATE  6/10/20  This Friday (6/12/20) marks then end of the sixth week of closure and at this point the contrtuction seems to be halfway completed. So the original estimate of 12 weeks is holding true so far. We hope the rest of the time does as well, and the improved roadway will reopen July 10, 2020.

We asked for and quicly received an update from  HGV this week. and this was the good new So if all continues well we will have an open SKR and Kaonoulu Street, signalized (RRFB) crosswalks mauka/makai on SKR with appropriate signage and road striping and new street trees. I addition Alulike St (on the SE perimrter of the time share project) will be paved

5/12/20 #kihei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legally walking along the North Kihei beach Sunday, May 10th, when there was no construction, offered us an overall perspective of the scope of the on-again, off-again, now on-again renovation of the old Maui Lu, soon to be a Hilton Grand Vacations property.

The actual working area of the road project is from the north end at Wailana Place to just north of the box culvert on South Kihei Road, crossing the Kulanihakoi river.

None of this view is possible from Kaonoulu Street, because it is barricaded against all modes of transportation: bicycling, walking and driving, about 100 yards from South Kihei Road.

To access Kaonoulu  from the beach, one has to walk north to Ohukai along  the beach and then backtrack to Kaonoulu. The roadway from the entrance gate of the property has been totally closed south to a location south of the “bridge.”

Why could there not have been a pedestrian path created on the north edge,  safely fenced off from the  construction work?

Going further south, where the roadway barrier is placed south of the river crossing, the roadwork stops well north of it, close to the Kaonoulu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the road construction work does not even extend to the river crossing, why is there no walking or biking path on this end either?

These lost opportunities for safe pedestrian travel appear to be just ignored for convenience of the contractor, but left as an inconvenience for area residents.

These are the same residents who are being inconvenienced during the entire construction process.  These Kihei residents will be neighbors  to all the of the future Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare owners. 

Of course, if the  North South Collector Road (NSCR)  in Kihei had been completely built, cyclists and pedestrians would have had a safe convenient route to travel south, but completion of that NSCR segment seems to still be a decade away. All that pedestrians and cyclists have left to use for travel needs is the Pi’ilani Highway, which is neither safe nor convenient.