Freeway lanes narrowed on part unused by military

Question: I see where the state Department of Transportation is narrowing the lane width on part of the H-1 freeway to 10 feet. Since the H-1, H-2 and H-3 freeways are technically part of the Interstate System, which was built to facilitate military movement, aren’t there rules governing lane width? I hope someone checked this.

Answer: The Federal Highway Administration says, "It is always desired to have a minimum 12-foot lane width for all freeway travel lanes."

However, it does not prohibit narrower lanes — other sections of the H-1 already had 10-foot lanes — and the DOT says the military issue is not a factor.

The FHWA reviewed the DOT’s proposal to create four lanes in each direction on the H-1, on the stretch between Punahou Street and Pali Highway, by re-striping existing lanes to 10-foot widths.

It gave its approval to the demonstration project in early July, said DOT spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter. Lane and ramp modifications began July 13 and were completed July 31. That was followed by "touch up" work and final line eradications Sunday.

Regarding the Interstate/Defense Highway System, Sluyter said that system was intended to connect military installations.

The section of the H-1 modified services Fort Ruger near Diamond Head, which is no longer operating as an active military facility, Sluyter said.

"Therefore, the accommodation of military vehicles was not a major consideration" in the project, she said.

Asked about safety issues, she said several changes have been put in place to address concerns: reducing the speed limit in the area to 45 mph; setting up flashing message boards to alert motorists to the changes; and earlier extending free Freeway Service Patrol service to the area to quickly remove stalled vehicles.

Sluyter said the H-1 freeway near the Middle Street overpass and the eastbound lanes between the Liliha Street onramp and the Pali Highway offramp also have the narrower lanes.

The $200,000 project to facilitate traffic flow will be monitored for about one year. If successful, a Phase II to continue the re-striping to Middle Street could be implemented; if not, Sluyter said, the freeway can be changed back to its original configuration at relatively low cost.

Widening the freeway "is a solution that is not realistic at this time," she said. A "buildout" would cost an estimated $650 million, not including the cost of land acquisition and relocation of residents/businesses.

More information is available on the DOT’s website, www.hawaii.gov/dot.

Question: NikeTown used to have a once a year collection of old shoes to be recycled into playground fillers. Now that NikeTown is gone, is there another place to recycle old shoes so they do not have to be thrown into our rapidly filling landfills?

Answer: Yes, there is.

After NikeTown shut down its Waikiki store in 2009, there was no place locally for people to recycle their worn-out, unusable shoes, short of mailing them to a Nike center on the mainland.

However, the Converse Outlet Store at Waikele, 94-790 Lumiaina St., is accepting unwearable athletic shoes with rubber soles as part of the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe campaign. (Converse is an affiliate of Nike.)

Just toss them into the bin at the front of the store, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Only rubber-soled athletic shoes are accepted — no slippers, sandals, boots, shoes with cleats or steel toes, etc. If the shoes are "gently used" or still wearable, you’re asked to donate them to a charity.

Since 1990, Nike says, it has recycled more than 28 million pairs of shoes worldwide, using them to create various athletic surfaces.

MAHALO

To whoever is responsible for the newly created four lanes on the H-1 freeway. Wow. It is fantastic. Easy to drive and no backups. Whoever thought of that should get a shiny cookie. Good job!

— Steve Holck

See first item.