2/26/2022 #kihei #north-south-collector-road #traffic
FEB 26, 2022
Getting ahead of the traffic
News that the Honua?ula master-planned community in South Maui may be nearing approval after more than 30 years of opposition and legal challenges has us thinking about the impacts a development that size will have on traffic along Kihei?s entire north-south corridor.
If approved, the addition of 1,150 housing units is sure to add vehicles to roads from Wailea Alanui Drive to Maui Veterans Highway. Not only will there be new residents, but also considerable construction and service traffic.
Smaller developments are already ongoing in Makena and Wailea, and others are on the books. Combine that growth with the opening of the long-awaited Kihei high school and a rebound in tourism and a perfect storm is brewing.
A state Department of Transportation Highways Division traffic study already predicts the high school could eventually cause ?D? level traffic at peak use. Level ?E? is gridlock. That does not take into account what happens when low-lying South Kihei Road is knocked out of service, as it was by December?s Kona storm. While the oceanfront road was closed, Piilani Highway and its side streets became quagmires. On at least one evening in December it took more than an hour to travel the length of Kihei.
Rising sea levels and intensifying rainstorms mean it is not a question of if South Kihei Road will be knocked out again, but when and how often. What happens if Kihei gets a double-whammy and Piilani is also shut down by a brush fire or major accident?
That is why Maui County must make the completion of Kihei?s north-south collector road a top priority. Not only will it help alleviate daily congestion, it will serve as a crucial lifeline for the community in times of need.
?The north-south collector road is absolutely critical,? said Kihei Community Association Director Andrew Beerer.
Association President Mike Moran said the route has been KCA?s number one concern for decades.
?We feel it is vital to have another road going north and south,? Moran said.
He explained that the next phase of Liloa Drive connecting Waipuilani Road and Kulanihakoi Street has been pushed back several times and is now slated for 2025. The following phase, which would connect Liloa to Kaonoulu Street and thus north-south Kenolio Road, is reportedly not even on the county?s radar.
At least three bridges reportedly need to be built to link up the entire 6.8-mile route, including two over major gulches. Yes, it will be expensive and other deserving projects will be delayed. But lives are at stake. And so are incomes. How many people will want to stay in Wailea if it becomes a two-hour, bumper-to-bumper slog from Kahului Airport?
Whatever it takes, whether it is securing funds from President Joe Biden?s infrastructure programs, floating bonds or borrowing cash, let?s get those bridges and sections of roadway built before the crisis hits, not after.
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If the suggestion is to bring a substantial traffic thoroughfare into and through what is entirely residential neighborhoods of North Kihei on Kenolio Rd, it is completely MISGUIDED and the worst in traffic planning/engineering theater. Making quiet neighborhoods suffer for the benefit of new rich developments in the south will not mitigate traffic problems, it will only encourage MORE development to use up the traffic resource. Diverting major traffic flow or overflow through residential neighborhoods is NEVER the solution, only a new problem created on the backs of the local residents.
As an all volunteer membership org, we do permit participation from outside, but often we find some are really unaware of a matter contained in a post. The NSCR has been part of the County planning action for 3 decades. It is clearly stated in the KMCP of 1998. Much of the development during those decades was constructed around that corridor, fully aware of the included necessary infrastructure. But in violation of that plan which calls for development concurrent with infrastructure, it was ignored.
Now as we watch SKR collapse as the sea level rises, the need for the NSCR is exacerbated. The Maui MPO shows the future NSCR only reaching Auhana, showing this has not related to new developments in So Kihei. The KMCP is on our website and reading it can inform those not familiar.