Question: You probably have already been notified of this idea that is being utilized near the Newtown Neighborhood Park where an elderly person (or for that matter anybody) using the crosswalk on Kaahele Street holds red flags attached to a wooden stick to signal oncoming cars of their crossing. Canisters have been placed on both sides of the street so that the user can return the flag when they reach the other side. Shouldn’t this idea, if not already in use on busy streets, be looked at in other areas?
Answer: The red-flag-at-crossing idea has been tried in other areas on Oahu, including along Pali Highway, but never caught on, mainly because the flags always disappeared.
The Kaahele Street project appears to be working because of a commitment by the community. But it is still a pilot.
“It hasn’t been formalized by the city,” said state Rep. K. Mark Takai (D, Halawa-Aiea-Newtown), who bought the first batch of 25 red flags and the canisters to hold them to help kick off the project last June.
It may seem a simple solution to provide a bunch of flags to help pedestrians cross dangerous intersections without traffic signals. But there are liability concerns, permission needed from city or state officials, and funding problems, especially because the flags have a tendency to disappear.
In this case, after the first batch of flags vanished, the Harbor Terrace association (part of Newtown Estates Community Association) provided money to buy more flags, Takai said.
But this time, “Kaahele” is written in large black letters on the flags, so they “are staying longer than in the past,” he said.
Former state Rep. Marilyn Lee unsuccessfully introduced legislation in 2006 to have bins holding flags placed at several intersections.
There is no move to resurrect that proposal at the Legislature, but Takai believes the answer doesn’t rest with government.
“I believe it’s working extremely well,” he said of the Kaahele Street flags.
“In our experience it really has to be a community effort and, truthfully, community-owned,” he said.
“That’s critical.”
He credited Carmille Lim, now executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, for proposing use of the flags in the area.
It took the community about six months, beginning in October 2011, to get the project going, including getting city approval to attach canisters to street poles.
“Our request was (to have it) as a pilot,” Takai said. Sometime later this year, probably during the summer, he said, the project will be assessed.
“It’s going to take a little bit of effort” to continue it, he said. “Our understanding is that it might need (City) Council approval.”
Question: How do we report a parking meter that is not working consistently? It does not advance minute credits sometimes when a coin is inserted.
Answer: To report any meter malfunctions, call the Honolulu Police Department’s Parking Enforcement and Collection Section’s meter mechanic supervisor at 832-7836, said section supervisor Pam Mitsumura.
Provide the meter’s location, number, date and time, description of the problem, your name and contact number and, if you received a parking citation, the citation number, she said.
In the past, Kokua Line was told that you should not mark a meter in any way, but it is OK to put a note or a bag over a meter to flag it.
However, “With the heavy rain and gusty winds, bags or notes left on the meter may not stay put,” Mitsumura said, so drivers are encouraged to report defective meters.
MAHALO
To the anonymous guardian angel who returned my wallet through the mail. I lost it on Wednesday, Feb. 20, near Longs downtown and got it back the next day. Everything was intact. I am so happy and grateful. — T. Kuwahara
