Don’t hinder Complete Streets

There’s no disputing that “Complete Streets” — the concept of designing city streets to make them safer and more accessible to pedestrians, bicyclists and others not driving a car — makes sense for Honolulu.

Walking or riding a bicycle through Oahu’s increasingly busy urban commun- ities has become more dangerous and nerve-wracking, especially for the elderly. Recent studies show that Hawaii has among the highest fatality rates involving pedestrians 65 and older.

Making communities safer for bicycles and pedestrians also can make them more inviting, encouraging a vibrant street life, with retail shops, farmers markets, gathering places and the like. Investing in such improvements will help Honolulu evolve gracefully, as well as accommodate the needs of a growing elder population that no longer drives.

Furthermore, Complete Streets is enshrined in law. In 2006, 72 percent of Oahu voters amended the City Charter to make Honolulu “a pedestrian- and bicycle- friendly city.” In 2012, the City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance requiring the city to incorporate Complete Streets concepts in transportation projects.

But now that the city is starting to implement those concepts, the Council appears to be getting cold feet. Responding to complaints from business owners and motorists about the King Street Cycle Track and a bike lane planned for South Street, the Council is considering bills that would strengthen its ability to block the city administration’s Complete Streets projects.

Bill 8 would require that the city’s Complete Streets checklist of criteria, already required for every project, be presented to the Council for approval or rejection.

Bill 84 (2015) would allow the Council to reject or change a bikeway or Complete Streets project in Honolulu’s urban core during the annual budget process.

Bill 68 (2015) requires that a public infrastructure map symbol be approved by the Council for all planned bicycle lanes and bike paths before they can proceed.

Bill 82 (2015) requires city officials to hold at least two public hearings, in addition to a discussion before an impacted area’s neighborhood, for any major bikeway project.

Except for Bill 82, the measures look like an unnecessary power grab by the Council and should be shelved.

Opponents of the bills justifiably fear that the measures, particularly Bill 8, would result in every project being brought before the Council for approval, creating a nightmare of design and construction delays, and effectively render the Complete Streets ordinance irrelevant. After all, what’s the point of requiring projects to include Complete Streets features if the Council can simply reject them?

Council members Carol Fukunaga and Trevor Ozawa said they want to ensure that the public — and Council members themselves — have a greater opportunity to get more information about and weigh in on projects before they get started. That’s understandable. The cycle track left some people feeling their concerns were ignored or not heard; Bill 82 could help alleviate this problem in the future.

However, Complete Streets is a comprehensive approach to planning that requires a sustained, long-term commitment from city government. The King Street Cycle Track makes sense only if it connects to other, as yet unbuilt, bike lanes, making it possible to ride through most of urban Honolulu without dodging cars. Other cities, such as Portland and Melbourne, do this quite well.

And many Complete Streets concepts involve more than bicycles. They include broader sidewalks, better landscaping, roundabouts and traffic-calming devices, and other amenities that encourage people to get out of their cars and explore their neighborhoods. City officials need to do a better job justifying how their projects will improve, and not just disrupt, neighborhoods, and do more than “put an emphasis only on bike lanes,” as Council member Ann Kobayashi put it.

Some of these concepts can be seen at the city Department of Transportation Services Complete Streets website, which includes links to submitted checklists and draft reports for 16 projects on Oahu. They are worth exploring — and commenting on.