Get dumpsters off the streets

The fact that the entire character of Kakaako is changing no longer escapes anyone’s notice. There’s now far more traffic, drawn by the development of residential properties in what for decades was a largely industrial zone.

The crowds also are drawn by the arrival of new restaurants and retail outlets, which are desirable additions to the community. It doesn’t help, however, that an obstacle course has been added to the roadways, impeding progress in reaching them.

Specifically, the problem comes in the shape of large trash bins. Known generically as dumpsters, each one can make the transit time through the neighborhood’s narrow and increasingly busy streets even more aggravatingly slow.

And yet, they are being allowed to remain in the streets, with rubbish collected from construction projects, for far longer than should be tolerated, far longer than is legal.

The dumpsters, which contain up to 3 cubic yards for disposal or recycling, are starting to litter the streets, obstructing lanes and with some of the trash ending up on the streets rather than contained.

This violates city rules dictating that streets and sidewalks next to multiunit residential buildings should be kept trash-free, but enforcement has been lax.

The first line of defense, however, should be the developers and the businesses with hired crews that have been using the bins: Most of them have seemed inattentive to the problem.

Some of the larger high-rise properties in the district have, as required, designated off-street areas where the bins are to be stored while in use. The property managers need to make sure this requirement is met.

Managing traffic on the neighborhood streets already has been anticipated as a potential problem. According to the Mauka Area Plan prepared by the overseeing agency, the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), a dozen roadway segments will exceed peak-hour capacity by 2025 and already were doing so in 2000.

This forecast was issued by the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, and it assumes no roadway improvements. If anything, renovations have narrowed Kakaako street capacity in recent years, the addition of a cycle track on South Street being the most visible example.

Jon Nouchi, deputy director of the city Department of Transportation Services, said that without a special permit for usage of the street, sometimes sought for longer-term projects, placing dumpsters in a city roadway is illegal.

And it’s not just a problem for Kakaako, although the added density in a redevelopment zone with heavy construction activity makes it particularly acute there. Reports have come in about violations in downtown Honolulu, Waikiki, Aina Haina and Niu Valley as well.

Residents have to shoulder some of the duty of reporting such problems to the city when they’re spotted — and unless the private companies are responsive to complaints, officials should start assessing fines. Violations can draw fines of $250 a day, although officials acknowledged none had been issued for this practice in the last five years.

This indulgent pattern has to end, especially as transit-oriented development — and the rail transit line itself — comes through the community.

HCDA must see that development plans address this issue, going forward. Some of the disposal companies’ executives say the space provided for trash emptying is insufficient. That’s not an excuse, especially with some companies moving bins back and forth at a laggardly pace.

And with several new residential towers, there is now far more pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic. This creates more hazards than there were when Kakaako was more a place to find an auto mechanic than for strolling around.

For safety’s sake, the needs of this growing community must be served appropriately. Street space is not disposable.