We at Aloha Stadium strive to create a positive event experience for every guest, which includes traffic and parking. We value feedback, as it is a critical vehicle to continually improve our operations. Equally important is our responsibility to provide our guests with a comprehensive understanding of the parking situation as much as possible.
To that end, I would like to share the many strides that we have made to continue to refine the ingress-egress flow as well as provide an explanation for the situation that led to the redirected traffic on the Oct. 14 University of Hawaii football game night, as cited in a recent letter to the editor (“Parking gets worse at Aloha Stadium,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 20). With this understanding, we hope fans will continue to patronize the UH football games at Aloha Stadium for years to come.
There are a number of operational adjustments that we have made through the years that have helped us to accommodate the steady inflow of cars arriving at the stadium as well as the mass exodus of the same number of cars leaving the stadium at one time following the event. These adjustments include:
>> Extended/earlier pre-game parking gate opening times.
>> Adding an additional right-turn lane from Kahuapaani Street onto Salt Lake Boulevard.
>> Adding a U-turn on East Bound Kamehameha Highway and Salt Lake Boulevard to allow guests direct access to Gate 2.
>> Adding more law enforcement officers to direct traffic flow all around, including the Ala Kapuna exit on eastbound H1, where we set up an expedited turn-around and encourage guests to “go east to get west” following games as a faster exit option.
>> Adding post-game contraflow lanes as operationally possible with safety being paramount.
>> Updated webpage traffic maps allowing guests the ability to view the recommended inbound and outbound routes.
>> Live traffic and parking updates on ESPN 1420AM for all UH games up until game time.
>> Outreach to guests through social media (Twitter, Facebook).
>> Traffic and parking press releases to all Hawaii media.
>> Pre- and post-communication and evaluation meetings with the Honolulu Police Department, the rail’s Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, state Department of Transportation and the university.
Even with the best strategy in place, situations arise that force us to alter our plans. This was the case after the Oct. 14 UH-San Jose State game, where guests were prevented from using the contraflow lane toward the Halawa Gate 3 exit. On that evening, HPD had to respond to an unforeseen incident that resulted in that lane being closed. For safety reasons, we had to re-route vehicles trying to exit the lower Halawa lot to the business gate and main exit to expedite the exiting traffic. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused and recognize that our communication of this type of change will need to be refined.
While we continue to evaluate and improve the process, we kindly ask our guests to be mindful that there is essentially a mass exodus of cars that originally arrived over an extended period of time, and that exiting 7,000 vehicles requires patience from everyone. We will continue to seek alternatives to increase traffic flow while being mindful of guest safety.
Scott Chan is the manager of Aloha Stadium.
