On a recent sunny morning following bouts of heavy rainfall, Analia Barboza stood outside her front gate where a temporary bypass road is supposed to run when the state replaces two bridges on a section of Farrington Highway in Makaha.
Barboza, who lives next to Makaha Beach, said she fears for the safety of her family, saying the bend in the road will be in front of her home. She has observed many accidents over the years near her property and says the planned detour road poses a hazard. "I feel like a sitting duck waiting for something bad to happen," Barboza said.
The Department of Transportation plans to replace two wooden bridges built in 1937 with reinforced concrete bridges. The $20 million project also will include improvements to the shoulders and railings of the two-lane highway. The project — 80 percent to be federally funded and 20 percent state-funded — is estimated to take 16 months to complete, DOT spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter said.
The state is still negotiating with affected property owners that include Barboza’s mother, Moana Kea Klausmeyer-Among, to acquire and lease portions of their property for the project. Sluyter said they would offer fair market value for the land the state is attempting to acquire from three private owners. If an agreement isn’t reached, the state would proceed with condemnation of parts of their property for the project.
The state plans to put the project out to bid this summer.
The 1,200-foot-long temporary bypass road with two 10-foot-wide lanes will run on the ocean side of the highway during the construction period. According to an environmental assessment on the bridge replacements, asphalt concrete and other material will be used to build the detour road to accommodate the 5,000 vehicles that travel daily on that section of the highway.
Some area residents say the state should reroute the roadway, pointing out a 1997 city master plan of the beach park that included a conceptual realignment of the highway toward the mauka side.
Sluyter said the state plans only to replace the aging bridges.
Klausmeyer-Among said the existing segment of Farrington Highway poses a safety risk for beachgoers who frequently cross the highway from Makaha Beach to go to the bathhouse or canoe hale on the opposite side of the highway. "This is a death trap road here," said Klausmeyer-Among, who was born and raised in the home her late father, David Klausmeyer, built next to the world-renowned surfing beach.
Rerouting the highway to the mauka side will reduce the risk of pedestrian accidents, she said.
Al Frenzel, secretary of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board, said the bypass road as well as construction of the new bridges will encroach on the beach. He recommended the state use the existing section of the highway as a temporary road and realign the highway to the mauka side so the roadway will go around the park instead of through it.
The city and state are ignoring the community’s concerns, Frenzel said. Cars fly by on the highway as families with their children cross the road to go to the beach’s restroom facility. "It’s something the community has put up with for many, many years," he added.
According to the environmental assessment, realigning the highway to the mauka side of the shoreline was rejected due to the potential for economic and social disruption to property owners. It further stated it could take several years to obtain funding for realigning that segment of the highway.
Legendary waterman Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana, who has saved many lives at Makaha Beach and served as its first lifeguard, said the bypass road will not be able to support large military trucks that travel on the roadway to Makua Valley.
Keaulana’s main concern is how the project might potentially affect sand at the beach. He fears a planned riprap (stone) wall to be built to protect the bypass road from high surf will cause more sand erosion.
The environmental assessment stated construction of the detour road may affect sand deposits closest to the site but that the road is temporary, and silt curtains and other measures will be implemented to prevent erosion around the project area. "The project is not expected to have long-term impacts to beach erosion," the report said.
Frenzel noted only a few in the community are aware of the project. "They are going to very aware when bulldozers and excavators are going to be digging into the beach. People are going to be irate," he said.
Frenzel is asking state officials to re-evaluate one of the designs in the environmental assessment of realigning the highway to the mauka side. Farrington Highway was built too close to Makaha Beach.
Barboza said the state informed her they plan to tear down her rock wall in front of her home to make way for the temporary detour road. She was told a chain-link fence and water-filled traffic barrels will be placed in front of her property.
Barboza said those measures will not prevent a speeding vehicle from plowing into her home. A 3-year-old boy killed last year after a drunken driver slammed into a bus stop was one of multiple accidents she observed over the years near her property.
In response to Barboza’s concerns, Sluyter said, "We have done other projects like this. We have done similar bypass roads, and it worked out OK."
In May, Klausmeyer-Among and two other area residents sought an injunction against the city Department of Planning and Permitting concerning permits issued to the state for the project. In the complaint, they said they are in danger of forced-condemnation proceedings by the state against portions of their properties for the project. They also stated the project will have detrimental effects to their properties.
In December, Circuit Judge Edwin Nacino dismissed the suit. Deputy Corporation Counsel Brad Saito said the suit was dismissed because the three plaintiffs didn’t assert a legal claim against the city for which they could obtain relief.
Regardless, Klausmeyer-Among and the two residents are continuing their battle. They recently filed another claim against the city, adding more defendants that include acting DPP Director Jiro Sumada and City Council Chairman Ernest Martin. Saito said Monday that they were to oppose the claim on the grounds that the complaint already was dismissed and that adding defendants does not assert a legal claim or wrongdoing by the city.
Concerned Makaha residents also have asked the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization to review the project. An online petition has been set up at www.malamamakaha.com.
