‘Unofficial’ traffic signs in Kaaawa are deemed OK

Question: The past year Kaaawa has seen the springing up overnight of a dozen faux stop signs/5 mph speed limit signs in a four-block radius where there is virtually no traffic. They are exact replicas of official signage installed by the state, but their amateur status is evinced by the sloppy way in which they are posted and their promiscuous placement where they serve no useful purpose. I am less concerned about the clutter than I am about the "crying wolf" syndrome: If severe speed limit and stop signs are placed at almost every intersection, drivers become inured to them and soon fail to distinguish the homegrown signs from those that must be obeyed. Is there someone we can contact to have them removed? I am sure that whoever put up all the signs had the best of intentions, but paradoxically succeeded only in making even the authentic and genuinely protective signs meaningless.

Answer: The streets in question are privately owned by the Kaaawa Beach Owners Association.

That fact means the signs are not considered illegal, and the city Department of Transportation Services does not intend to take any action to remove them.

If the association did not approve or post the signs, it should either do so or remove them, said DTS Director Michael Formby.

Association officials say they are not responsible for the signs, but don’t consider them to be a problem.

Formby explained that the city follows the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which governs the design and use of traffic control devices for all streets, highways and bikeways, as well as private roads open to public travel.

The latter includes private toll roads and roads (including adjacent sidewalks) within shopping centers, airports, sports arenas and other similar business and/or recreation facilities that are privately owned but where the public is allowed to travel without restrictions.

Roads within private gated properties (except for gated toll roads) where access is restricted at all times, parking areas, driving aisles within parking areas, and private grade crossings are not included.

If the signs in question are posted on private roads under the Kaaawa Beach Owners Association, "It is OK for them to use signs detailed" in the manual, Formby said.

"To the best of my knowledge, the signs were not put up by the Kaaawa Beach Owners Association, and I have not found information that would indicate their origin," said association President Ian Lind. That said, the signs have "never been brought to our attention as a problem."

The issue did not come up "directly" at the association’s recent annual meeting. "However, there were a couple of concerns raised about what can be done to reduce speeding on the back roads," Lind said.

Lind said he personally disagrees with your assessment of the situation, especially because the streets are in a neighborhood where there are many children and speeding vehicles are a concern.

"I don’t think (the signs) are confusing at all," he said, noting that the neighborhood has narrow, substandard streets with no sidewalks. "If they slowed people down, it would be great."

Private Roads

Lind explained that the Kaaawa Beach Owners Association, with about 159 members, owns the interior roads of Kaaawa, along with adjoining easements, from the Kaaawa fire station to the beach park on the Kaneohe side.

The nonprofit association was set up after Kualoa Ranch sold the fee interest to leasehold lots it owned in the area in 1982.

Although the roads are privately owned, the city took over basic maintenance sometime after 2000, Lind said.

We’ve previously explained that Section 14-32 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu allows the city to do remedial patching or resurfacing of private roads that meet certain criteria, most important being accessibility to the general public. (See bit.ly/13pTJUt and bit.ly/1G4cXOj.)

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