Question: I’m calling about the Kailua Police Station and on-street parking. First, they blocked off one lane, but now they’ve blocked off two lanes and not only police cars are parked on the street, but regular cars as well. Why not (develop a parking lot) between the police and fire station to get the cars off the street?
Question: Why do police have the right to cone off a lane in front of the Kailua Police Station to park their vehicles? This started when President Obama first came to Oahu and has continued 24/7 every day since. As traffic in Kailua continues to grow, we need every available lane.
Answer: We answered a similar complaint in 2011 and were told that the Honolulu Police Department had a permit from the city to cone off the right-turn lane fronting the Kailua Police Station 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The reason given then, as now, was that there is insufficient parking in the station’s lot. Obama’s visit had nothing to do with the coning, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
When we contacted HPD this time, Yu provided us with a copy of a letter HPD Chief Louis Kealoha sent to a complainant in February at the request of Mayor Kirk Caldwell. The complainant had complained to the mayor about the lane coning.
“Orange cones are placed on the roadway for delineation and safety, and the sidewalk remains open to pedestrian traffic,” Kealoha wrote.
However, the police chief’s letter also said that the Kailua station’s lot was to be expanded “during the first half of 2013,” adding, “The extra parking spaces should diminish the need for our officers to park on Kuulei Road.”
“The officers are parking their cars outside to make space in the lot for the public,” Yu told us, and the “regular” cars are actually officers’ subsidized vehicles.
The only update to Kealoha’s letter is that the parking lot renovation won’t take place until October at the earliest, Yu said.
Question: Who should be called about the five shopping carts that have been thrown into the Ala Wai Canal at the bridge on Ala Moana Boulevard, on the Waikiki side? They have collected trash and look terrible. There is a large drain from the street water there. There was an iron grate covering it, but I saw some boys taking it off some years ago and playing in the water. It is probably still there under the trash. This bridge was repaired in the past several years. I expected the shopping carts would have been removed then.
Answer: This would be under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.
Call the division’s Oahu District Office at 832-3520 with a detailed location.
“Sometimes we can’t see the carts from the side of the road, but the people in the apartments above can,” said DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
The problem is that if a cart is “too far in the middle of the canal, we can’t get it, but we will make attempts to remove the ones along the sides.”
As for getting to the carts in the middle, “Any canoe clubs that might want to kokua would be doing a good thing for the canal,” Ward said.
MAHALO
To the staff at the Maunalani Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center on Wilhelmina Rise, where I spent 50 days. It is a safe haven for the sick to regain their strength and return to wellness. I have seen the love of family members of several generations each day taking turns wheeling loved ones around, and it is amazing how they improve day by day. I met friends and had a great reunion going back 50 years. The staff face many challenges with each individual as all needs are different. I tip my hat off to each one of them. I enjoyed the camaraderie of other patients and staff. — Jean Ogata
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
