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Question: Why was Essex Road closed near the golf course and cars prevented from getting to White Plains Beach? That road was opened for years and provided people with an easy access to the beach. Now we have to drive miles out of the way to get there. Also, a great path was recently put in along the road allowing families to bike and jog from Ka Makana to White Plains. Now there is a lock on the gate to the path. Why?
Answer: The Navy closed Essex Road at least a decade ago for safety and other reasons.
Although most of the roads and properties in the Kalaeloa Community Development District (formerly Barbers Point Naval Air Station) are now under state or county jurisdiction, the Navy retains title to Essex Road and three adjacent parcels: Barbers Point Golf Course and the Northern and Southern Trap and Skeet parcels.
That information comes from Anthony Ching, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which oversees redevelopment in the 3,700-acre Kalaeloa district.
According to a 2010 map, the Navy retained the golf course and a stable area for morale, welfare and recreation purposes, Ching said, while the trap and skeet parcels are subject to the Base Realignment and Closure program, but have not yet been conveyed to any entity.
Essex Road is open to vehicles going to the golf course during the day, but barricaded after that to allow access only to the stables, he said.
The Navy prevented vehicular access to Essex Road, between Tripoli and the Barbers Point Golf Course, because of concerns about errant golf balls jeopardizing public safety, as well as the presence of endangered plants nearby areas, said Grace Hew Len, director of public affairs for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
“The closures occurred years ago, perhaps as far back as 2000,” she said.
Regarding the path, Hew Len said it is not a walkway, but parts of Essex Road and a service road that borders the Haseko Development property.
Six gates along a stretch of fence line were secured last October because of concerns about unrestricted access to Navy property. Outside of Navy personnel, only emergency services and Haseko employees have access through those locked gates.
“The closures continue to be in effect and we apologize for any inconvenience,” Hew Len said.
Question: I have two 10-speed bikes and I’d like to give them to a program that will fix and give them to people in need. Do you have information on who to contact?
Answer: Contact the nonprofit Kalihi Valley Instructional Bike Exchange (KVIBE), which seeks to help the youth of Kalihi Valley.
The exchange will accept any kind of bicycle and if they’re unfixable, will take them to a recycler, said Marcos Bendana, KVIBE program coordinator.
Participants can earn a bike either by helping to repair them or helping out around the shop, or just by doing their homework, he said. “We’re not just a bike shop. We have a wide range of things we do to help the youth around the neighborhood.”
He also said adults can buy one of the repaired bikes, with all proceeds going back into the program.
For more information or to donate a bike, call 843-1545 or email kvibe@kkv.net. Find out more about the program at k-vibe.blogspot.com.
MAHALO
To the clerk who helped me renew my license on Tuesday morning, Feb. 12, at the Fort Street Mall Satellite City Hall. I had five documents with me: current license, Social Security card, Medicare card, letter from ophthalmologist and birth certificate. The clerk was cordial, helpful and efficient and I was pau in 20 minutes. — Donald C. Blaser
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