Question: What is going on with Hamakua Drive? They had it perfect and now it’s all messed up again.
Question: How long is whatever they are doing on Hamakua Drive going to take?
Answer: Hamakua Drive from Kailua Road to Keolu Drive is being restriped to add bike lanes, according to a news release from the city announcing the start of the project in early March. The number of car lanes is being reduced and a center turn lane is being added. Some street parking is being lost near Kailua Road, while new parking spaces are being added near Aoloa Road.
The work is expected to wrap up by the end of June, according to the news release. A call to a project manager seeking an update on the project’s progress was not returned by deadline.
Construction hours for the Hamakua Drive Bikeway Improvements Project are Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Motorists are advised to expect delays due to temporary lane closures and to heed parking restrictions.
The news release said the project will make Hamakua Drive “a more balanced community space for all modes of transportation,” in keeping with the city’s Complete Streets Ordinance, Section 14-33 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu.
Q: Regarding the student activists: Most high-schoolers are under 18, too young to vote.
A: Yes, but they can pre-register at age 16 and be automatically registered to cast a ballot once they come of age, according to the state Office of Elections. You can read about how to register to vote in Hawaii at 808ne.ws/votereg.
Missing a refund?
Federal law gives most taxpayers a three-year window to claim a tax refund for years in which they failed to file a federal income tax return. After that time elapses, the money belongs to the U.S. Treasury, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
So an estimated 6,200 Hawaii taxpayers who did not file a 2014 federal income tax return will soon lose the right to a total of $6.8 million in unclaimed federal income tax refunds, the IRS said. The federal tax agency urges all those who failed to file 2014 returns to do so by April 17, the deadline. There’s no penalty for filing a late return if a taxpayer is due a refund. The median potential refund in Hawaii is $898, according to the IRS.
The refunds unclaimed by Hawaii taxpayers are a portion of the estimated $1.1 billion awaiting about 1 million taxpayers across the country who did not file federal income tax returns in 2014.
Of course, the IRS also is reminding taxpayers that any refund due for 2014 may be held if they also haven’t filed for 2015 or 2016, so it’s time to catch up on those years too.
Also worth noting: Before the taxpayer receives any refund due for past years, amounts may be deducted to pay debts to the IRS and state tax agencies, or for unpaid child support or past-due federal debts, such as student loans.
Mahalo
To the driver of the car going up the Pali Highway on Monday around 5 p.m.: Thanks for flashing your headlights! You saved me, but not so for the car next to me. May you be blessed on the roads always! — From the driver of the truck coming down the Pali
Mahalo
I would like to send a big mahalo that is way overdue to the state Department of Transportation’s Maintenance Section. For the last 28 years, we have called this department numerous times when there was new graffiti painted on the walls of a park near Magellan Avenue; the walls are in direct view of our patient chairs. This department has always cleaned and painted the walls in days! Mahalo for a job well done! — Dr. Steve Wilhite, DDS
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
