Waimanalo crosswalks get safety flags

Luana Emond and Nona Naleieha waved bright orange flags to stop cars as they crossed Kalanianaole Highway in Waimanalo.

The crosswalk near Oluolu Street is the site of a crash in which Naleieha’s 8-month-old grandson, Donovan, and his family were struck by a pickup truck while they made their way across the highway last year. Donovan was taken in critical condition to the hospital and died. At the time, residents had raised concerns about poor lighting in the area.

Both Emond and Naleieha hope the bright orange flags, which were installed at 14 other crosswalks not located near traffic signals this week in Waimanalo, will help to make the two-lane highway safer for pedestrians. Corrie Emond, Luana Emond’s mother, and her family, who own nearby Waimanalo Poke Shop and Ono Steaks and Shrimp Shack, donated money to put up the flags at the crosswalk.

“It’s just really dark until you get right there (to the crosswalk),” Corrie Emond said Wednesday. “We’re all family. It’s our community. Hopefully people will use (the flags) and cars will see them.”

The flags are part of an islandwide pedestrian safety effort spearheaded by the nonprofit Hawaii Bicycling League. A group of volunteers and residents held signs Wednesday near the New Town &Country Stables in Waimanalo to generate awareness about pedestrian safety and the newly installed flags.

The initiative started with community groups and businesses volunteering and donating money to put up about 800 flags at 25 crosswalks on Farrington Highway along the Waianae Coast last year. About 30 flags also were placed at crosswalks on Kalanianaole Highway near Aina Haina last year.

“I think it’s (creating) a tremendous community awareness,” Chad Taniguchi, the bicycling league’s executive director, said of the flags in Waianae. “The purpose of the road is for everybody to get through safely. Safe streets are good for everyone.”

The bicycling league partnered with community groups and businesses, including the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board, the Honolulu Police Department, Bank of Hawaii, Waimanalo Health Center and Hawaii Job Corps Center, to place the flags at the crosswalks Monday and generate awareness about the effort. Several businesses and groups donated money to adopt the crosswalks where the flags were placed.

“We didn’t invent the wheel. We’re taking it from the Waianae side,” said HPD Capt. Jayson Kauwenaole of District 4, which spans Windward Oahu to Waimanalo. He, along with other officers, waved signs Wednesday to encourage drivers to slow down along Kalanianaole Highway. “I’ve seen it (flags) work in the Nanakuli area. Being able to see the flag really helps.”

Kekoa Ho, longtime Waimanalo Neighborhood Board chairman, said the community effort to install the flags “was so impressive,” adding that the crash that killed Donovan was “really heartbreaking.”

“We’re just trying to protect our children and the kupuna,” said Ho, a lifelong Waimanalo resident. “A life is a life. After we have the flags for a while, people will get it into their minds. When you can help your community, there’s no better feeling.”