After 31⁄2 years, the pedestrian crossing flags placed at three crosswalks on Pali Highway have been removed by the state Department of Transportation.
The flags were not authorized by the department and were removed “due to liability concerns,” said spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter.
We were first alerted to the state’s plans when a highways inspector contacted us last month, asking, obviously rhetorically, if permission had been obtained to place the flags in containers attached to utility poles.
We pointed to several news reports since January 2010, including our March 19 column, about how Kailua resident Virginia Kawauchi took it upon herself, at her own expense, to install the flags along the highway after the death of 81-year-old Hideno Matsumoto on Jan. 12, 2010.
Kawauchi did not know Matsumoto, but had read about the Nuuanu resident who died after she was hit by a car while trying to cross Pali Highway. Shortly after, Kawauchi began placing the homemade flags, each with Matsumoto’s name on it, in containers attached to poles at the intersections, where there are no traffic signals.
The idea was that people crossing the highway could wave the flags to get the attention of motorists, providing some measure of safety. (See is.gd/G3c8YX.)
“I’m extremely disappointed and shocked that the flags were taken down, because I thought they were doing so much good,” Kawauchi said Wednesday. “Why would they all of a sudden do this when (the flags) have been up for three years, saving we don’t know how many lives?”
We were not able to get an explanation from the department.
Kawauchi was visiting family on the mainland when we informed her of the state’s plan. She said she had been told that she could remove the flags after she returned home on Monday, so was disappointed to hear that wouldn’t happen.
The department is trying to set up a meeting with her to discuss the situation, Sluyter said.
Until she went on her trip, Kawauchi said she would check the flags every two weeks, putting out new ones, if necessary. She says she saw evidence that “the people of Nuuanu” were using the flags “effectively.”
FLAGS ON CITY STREETS
The highways inspector also asked us about pedestrians flags along Kaahumanu Street in Pearlridge.
It turns out the city Department of Transportation Services was not aware of those flags.
“We conducted research on other cities that have formal pedestrian flag programs and understand the results have been mixed, with some cities ending the program after conducting a pilot while other programs are still active,” noted Mark Garrity, deputy director for city agency.
Since the city has not established a formal pedestrian crossing flag program, he said it does not allow placement and use of flags within the street right-of-way by private citizens.
“If not properly secured, these items could potentially become a safety hazard for both pedestrians and drivers,” Garrity said.
The city will assess the situation at Kaahumanu, but, “I don’t know yet what action we will take, if any,” he said.
State Rep. K. Mark Takai, who spearheaded a red-flag pilot project on Kaahele Street near Newtown Neighborhood Park last year, said the project is working well, primarily because it’s “well embraced by our community,” with residents replacing the flags as needed.
“There’s no indication from where I am that suggests anything other than it’s doing what it’s supposed to do,” which is increase pedestrian safety, he said.
In the case of Kaahele Street, permission was obtained from the city, he said. “We believe that we did everything the right way.” (See is.gd/kqkhib.)
Because of the continuing success at Kaahele, Takai said he hoped to expand the program to other areas, “but do it right and get the necessary approvals.”
———
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.
