Event imagines a Kakaako that’s friendlier to trees, bikes

Imagine our increasingly hot, voggy, traffic-congested city transformed with broad, tree-lined sidewalks and bikeways separated from cars and trucks. Imagine safely biking or walking to work and school. Imagine feeling safe about your keiki riding bikes.

Can’t you just visualize the shade and coolness provided by big trees and good, aka­mai people and aina-friendly city planning?

We talk about the environment being important in Hawaii and then allow a big, new building with a heat-absorbing, treeless parking lot. Studies show that tree-lined spaces get people to shop more, yet businesses chop down their trees, as if you can’t see their signs or something.

Pavement creates heat islands and trees mitigate or reduce this. Well-planned tree plantings can also rechannel and clean up water from floods so runoff doesn’t flow into and contaminate the ocean.

This is all doable. Landscape architect Joel Kuro­kawa of KI Concepts talked about this concept and a fun event that is coming up that will demonstrate new technologies to make life in Hawaii so much more pleasant for us and for our moo­puna and future generations.

Hele on Kaka‘ako, sponsored by Cycle on Hawaii, will take over and transform a few blocks in Kakaako from Mother Waldron Park to Gateway Park on Mother’s Day, May 12, to make it totally safe and bike-friendly for families. There will be food trucks, bike rides and all kinds of fun and demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This follows last year’s event in Kailua, which attracted hundreds. The Kakaako version is expected to draw thousands.

Kurokawa has been working with landscape tree nurseries to bring in big trees to demonstrate how shady our streets and bikeways could be. They will use "compost socks," mesh socks filled with compost, to make bulb-outs (curb extensions) and other planning devices that protect bicyclists.

There will be "parklets" and urban "pop-up" garden demonstrations to show people how easy, fun and healthful gardening can be. Bio­swales and rain gardens will be set up so folks can see how these can be nice landscape features that save and protect our fresh and ocean water, our wai and kai.

Other activities include bike safety education and bike repair and maintenance stations, helmet giveaways, aerobics and dance classes, BMX demonstrations, bike polo, a skateboard ramp, a bike show and crafts for kids, moms and dads, too.

Families can ride a safe bike route within the 1.5 miles of Kakaako streets or do a 5K fun run. Register at www.active.com.

Some of the key organizers in addition to Kuro­kawa are Nata­lie Iwasa, Linda Schatz and Daniel Simo­nich, a bike advocate and University of Hawaii planning student.

The main streets for the event are Keawe, Auahi, Coral, Pohu­kaina, Ilalo, Cooke and Keli­koi. Check it out ahead of time online, sign up and then let’s all get moving and hele on down to Kakaako for this fun and educational event.

For more information, to look at the event map or to get your nonprofit involved and join in the fun and learning, check out the website at cyclo­via­hawaii.org.