City moves to plan controversial Ala Wai footbridge

The city is moving forward with design and planning work for a pedestrian and bike bridge across the Ala Wai Canal that would align with University Avenue and Kalaimoku Street. ​

Funding for the controversial decades-old concept was approved by the Honolulu City Council as part of its 2017 fiscal budget. The city will pay $130,000, while the federal government will cover the rest of the estimated $650,000 planning and design costs.

A cost estimate or timeline for the bridge’s construction was not available from the city. However, the release of design and planning funds means the Ala Wai footbridge project, which has been seriously discussed since at least the mid-1990s, is finally gaining momentum.

“This is a giant step forward,” said Daniel Alexander, advocacy director for the 1,850-member Hawaii Bicycling League, which supports the bridge. “Previously, the idea was just a line on the map — part of a master plan.”

Support for the project stems from a recommendation made in the city Department of Transportation Services’ Waikiki Regional Circulator Study, conducted in 2013 to reduce growing conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians and bikers. This multimodal regional traffic plan resurrected a discussion about whether Waikiki should add up to six bridges reserved for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, including four across the Ala Wai Canal.

Last year, the Waikiki Neighborhood Board got the topic moving again when it supported a portion of the project — the University Avenue and Kalaimoku Street pedestrian and bike bridge. Proponents say the bridge would make the area more multimodal. It also would serve as an additional emergency evacuation route and another way of connecting Waikiki to a possible University of Hawaii rail stop.

The impetus for the project has been strengthened by the recent charge to improve the viability of the Ala Wai watershed, including the filthy Ala Wai Canal. According to an Army Corps of Engineers study and other insurance risk studies, if a Category 4 hurricane hit Oahu, the damage to Waikiki alone could reach $30 billion. Likewise, a 100-year flood in the dense watershed that feeds the canal could cost an estimated $318 million, affecting about 1,358 acres and more than 3,000 properties.

The project also helps fulfill the city’s commitment to the state’s 2009 “Complete Streets” policy, a mandatory multimodal transportation and design approach. According to the city’s Department of Transportation Services, the policy creates a “comprehensive, integrated network of streets that are safe and convenient for all people whether traveling by foot, bicycle, transit, or automobile.”

Efforts also align with the Waikiki Transportation Management Association’s push to address the district’s increasing parking and traffic woes by partnering with the city to create a nonprofit Waikiki transportation special improvement district.

“All of these things are coming to fruition at one time,” said Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Jeff Merz, who is an urban planner. “What we hope to see is a transformed approach that reduces vehicular traffic and parking conflicts and enhances safety, while making it easier and more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists to get around.”

The Waikiki Neighborhood Board, the Waikiki Improvement Association, the Hawaii Bicycling League and many Waikiki residents favor the project. But it is not without controversy.

Ron Lockwood, a member of the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board, said his board has repeatedly voted against the bridge since the mid-1990s.

“We’ve had numerous meetings about it over the decades. There have been hundreds that have said that they don’t want it. Is it the ‘n’ or the ‘o’ that’s confusing people?” Lockwood said.

Constituents say the plan will worsen traffic around Ala Wai Elementary and ‘Iolani School and even the University of Hawaii, Lockwood said. Some worry the bridge will attract loitering or criminal elements, he said.

“I’m sorry to hear that it’s moving forward,” said Linda Wong, a member of the Diamond Head-Kapa- hulu-St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board. “They are not listening to the residents who live in the area, much less the nearby public schools.”

Wong said surrounding residents are concerned that their traffic will increase when Waikiki bridge users park in their neighborhoods. Wong said she’s heard from others who fear one bridge will lead to more, which could significantly impact Ala Wai views.

“If they carve up the Ala Wai views, it’s just the beginning of the end,” she said.