Embrace move toward city that’s bicycle friendly

Honolulu officials are taking a needed second giant step toward becoming more bike-friendly — although it may take more time for motorists to feel very neighborly toward their fellow commuters riding on two wheels.

The city Department of Transportation Services hopes to install the first mauka-makai connector to the King Street cycle track by the end of the year, the next spoke in what is envisioned as a network of bike lanes, concentrated in the urban core.

It will be on South Street, and it appears the city is working to smooth things out with businesses at the makai end. Department Director Michael Formby said Waterfront Plaza should be able to maintain its loading zones. And, Formby added, the plan is to maintain the same number of vehicular lanes on the two-way block of South Street that connects with Ala Moana, even with the addition of the protected bike lane.

These are encouraging refinements to the blueprint. They were made as a result of community feedback gathered at town meetings, which once again underscores the importance of public engagement.

Clearly the public is interested in it conceptually, with many attending a recent demonstration at City Hall sponsored by the nonprofit Bikeshare Hawaii. The event showcased the four bike-rental vendors vying for a city contract to run rental kiosks around town.

When it gets down to the brass-tacks realities of bikes mixing with traffic, however, some drivers continue to regard sharing the road with a jaundiced eye. Honolulu’s motorists have grown accustomed to having the lanes to themselves.

But change on that score is inevitable, and residents need to make the transition to an altered cityscape.

Planners hope to meet the city’s need for housing by developing the urban core more densely, and the new neighborhoods are designed to encourage more walking and cycling for the short trips connecting home with activities of daily life. Increasingly the streets will be a shared zone, and it’s important for them to provide for everyone’s safety.

The city is still on a steep learning curve. Formby said the asphalt curbs fencing in the King Street track have raised barriers to disabled pedestrians. This has led the city to prefer, going forward, the use of “bollards,” the flexible posts that are features of many protected bike lanes.

After South Street, he said, Honolulu officials are working with the Howard Hughes Corp. to create a third protected lane up Ward Avenue. Others — a mix of protected and simply painted bike lanes — are envisioned on McCully and Piikoi streets, and Pensacola Avenue.

Many other cities have preceded Honolulu in this, with great success. And in this city, Formby said, there’s already progress: Traffic counts on King Street have shown an 88 percent increase in cycling volume, and a 71 percent fewer cyclists on the sidewalks, the territory meant for pedestrians.

This has made travel safer and more pleasant for more people — and that’s the whole idea driving this long-awaited improvement to city streets.