Improve driving on Waianae Coast

Any measure to ease traffic flow coming out of the Waianae Coast is a welcome one. Which is why installing two traffic cameras each at Nanakuli and Haleakala avenues on Farrington Highway would be a small, but significant, step.

The state Department of Transportation is expected to install the cameras within the next six months. The camera project reinforces a move to add an additional turn lane and to adjust the traffic lights in the area — all to make necessary inroads in decreasing the backlog during rush hour.

State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro, whose district spans the entire Waianae Coast, said she appreciates the cameras, but is even more encouraged after learning recently that the DOT is looking at extending its turn lane project to Hakimo Road, which would help reduce congestion. That stretch of Farrington Highway is currently two lanes each way. We strongly urge DOT to extend the project. Focusing on the stretch between the two intersections is hardly enough to reduce the daily bottleneck as residents leave and return to the Waianae Coast.

The turning lane would be helpful in the event of traffic accidents or other emergency situations, if used as an emergency contraflow lane to preserve two lanes of traffic in each direction.

Contraflowing during rush hour can’t be pursued unless there are at least five lanes of traffic, Shimabukuro said. Leaving only one lane headed in the opposite direction would be dangerous for emergency vehicles and create congestion behind buses.

Additional relief can’t come soon enough for Westside residents, many of whom are forced to leave in the pre-dawn hours to avoid two-hour commutes. If it’s not the worst commute into town, it’s close to it, and more focus should be turned toward upgrading the roadways and improving traffic patterns.

Once the cameras are working, residents will be able to view road conditions on the GoAkamai application, which provides images from more than 200 cameras islandwide. Knowing if, and where, problem spots are occurring can aid drivers’ planning, and should help speed response times by traffic managers. Currently, camera coverage doesn’t go beyond Kapolei — and, yes, the traffic woes go far beyond the Second City.

Meanwhile, plans are advancing for much-needed improvement of Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue — from West Perimeter Road to Enterprise Street — in nearby Kalaeloa. An agreement would transfer that section of Roosevelt Avenue from the state DOT to the state Hawaii Community Development Authority, a move that would expedite HCDA’s improvement of the road up to city standards. The roadway would be turned over to the city upon completion.

It’s encouraging to see several jurisdictions working together to improve a major east-west corridor in the region, answering the community’s call for improved roadways.

The poor condition of more than 20 miles of roadways in Kalaeloa has hampered development in the area, and the inability to address differing roadway standards has delayed necessary work.

“There is a reason Kalaeloa hasn’t been developed the way it should have been,” said City Councilwoman Kymberly Pine.

Plans could allow for center lanes, a 20-foot median and concrete sidewalks, and setting aside 14 feet on each side for possible widening.

Until the trains are on the track for rail — and even after they are — major thoroughfares in West Oahu must be improved to the fullest extent possible. Long-suffering drivers forced to go the distance for work or school need all the help they can get — whether it means adding turning lanes, synchronizing traffic lights or installing cameras, or simply having driveable roads.