The North Road, a nearly 2-mile-long thoroughfare that connects the Ewa Beach community to schools, parks, churches and at least one golf course, also has connections to
less desirable sights, area residents say.
Namely, a privately owned section of the roadway that many call a dangerous health and public safety hazard, where unmaintained, poorly lit and nearly unwalkable stretches that for years have given way to the large-scale, illegal dumping of abandoned vehicles, junked appliances, piles of trash and other
assorted waste, without abatement.
To avert further damage, the City Council’s Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs today will discuss Resolution 107, which urges the city administration to take steps to condemn the noncity, nonfederal portions of North Road.
Introduced in April by Council member Augie Tulba, the resolution states that the U.S. government was the original owner of North Road, traversed primarily by the public as the route out of Ewa Beach from Iroquois Point, which was subdivided over the years and sold to various entities with surrounding parcels.
Currently, North Road is owned and maintained in part by the city, the federal government and a private entity, YC Ewa Inc., which uses a tunnel underneath North Road, the resolution states.
According to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, YC Ewa was formed as “a domestic profit corporation” in 2021 to own, manage and operate the golf course, clubhouse and pro shop at Ewa Beach Country Club at 91-050 Fort Weaver Road. The country club is abutted by Fort Weaver and North roads.
“That portion of North Road appears to (pose) a health and safety hazard for children who traverse North Road due to its lack of bus service, lighting, or improved sidewalks, and overgrown foliage, and it has long been an area where motorists speed in both directions,” the resolution states.
Among the Ewa Beach schools affected is the
38-acre campus of James Campbell High School at
91-980 North Road.
And due to the area being an illegal dump site, the resolution says it’s “exposing the aina to continuous toxic environmental pollution.”
“It appears that the portion of North Road that is owned and maintained by (YC Ewa) is overwhelmed by the public use and illegal dumping, and the private entity is unable to maintain and repair its portion of North Road or construct appropriate sidewalks,” the resolution states. “(It) has been reported that (YC Ewa) is willing to transfer the portion of North Road that it owns to the city, provided that the entity is able to maintain an easement for its use.”
Alexander Gaos, a member of the Ewa Neighborhood Board, supports Resolution 107.
“Despite being a major thoroughfare for residents of Ewa Beach, especially for keiki living in Kapilina Beach Homes that need to walk
or ride bicycles to one of
the several schools in the Ewa Beach complex, for
decades North Road has presented major safety concerns,” Gaos said in written testimony for today’s committee meeting.
He added that the dangerous portion of the road is unmaintained by the current landowner, but noted the “city’s portion of North Road is maintained to a higher standard.”
In similar written testimony, John Rogers, an Ewa Neighborhood Board member, said residents and visitors of Kapilina Beach Homes — formerly Iroquois Point Navy Housing — “must traverse this unimproved section of roadway without the benefit of lighting, pedestrian, or bicycling facilities.”
He noted that the state-formed Task Force on North Road Management — which included city and county and state agencies to look at the issue in 2021 — reported in 2022 that Honolulu’s directors for the departments of Transportation Services and Facility Maintenance both advised the task force “that the city would not accept ownership unless the roadway was brought up to city standards.”
“This introduces a form of Catch-22. Where the Ewa Beach Golf Course sees no monetary benefit to upgrading the roadway and without the roadway meeting current standards, the city administration will not work
to acquire the roadway,” Rogers said. “I suggest an amendment or another resolution to ask the city administration to negotiate an agreement with the Navy — similar to the Pearl Harbor Historic Trail — so that the city could take the obligation of maintaining the remaining roadway to where North Road intersects to Iroquois Drive, the entrance road to the Kapilina Beach Homes community.”
The meeting begins at
1 p.m. inside the City Council chambers.
