There is no solution to make pedestrian at-grade street crossings 100% safe. There will always be risks when crossing. The solution is not to remove the crosswalks and think the problem will go away.

The city removed the crosswalk at the intersection of South King and Cooke streets, apparently thinking people will not cross the street without a marked crosswalk.

However, every day people continue to cross South King Street at Cooke Street without a marked crosswalk for the simple reason it is unreasonable to expect people to increase their walking distances by 700% to 1,900% just to cross King in a marked crosswalk.

By removing the crosswalk, the city has increased the risks for pedestrians, not reduced them.

Sam Gillie

Hawaii Kai

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