Question: Both of the short tunnels on Pali Highway are in the dark, and the sign announcing the outage has also gone missing. I’ll refrain from smart-aleck remarks, but this seems a serious situation that needs attention. Do the responsible folks know and have a plan to fix it?
Answer: Yes. You are one of multiple readers who have expressed this safety concern in recent weeks, with some saying the lights have been out for quite a while. We raised your questions with the state Department of Transportation on Feb. 27, and after following up on Wednesday heard back later that day. Here’s the response from Shelly Kunishige, a spokesperson for the department:
“HDOT has posted electronic signs alerting motorists to the lights in the Pali tunnels on Oahu being out. For safety we recommend that drivers use their headlights when traveling through the tunnels even in daylight.
“HDOT is working with Hawaiian Electric to investigate concerns with the power supply and lights in the short tunnels on the Pali Highway. This will involve installation of power monitoring equipment in mid-March and a surge suppression system in June. In the interim, we will be turning on an emergency circuit that can partially power the short tunnel lighting (10 lights in the Kailua-bound tunnel and six lights in the Honolulu-bound tunnel).
“The long tunnel lights have been restored following a timing schedule programming error that turned them off during the night. HDOT staff will be manually commanding the long tun-nel lights as we work to resolve the timing schedule programming.”
Q: Regarding the state trying to expedite the hiring of laid-off federal workers, isn’t the city doing the same thing?
A: Yes, Honolulu’s municipal government announced it’s streamlining the hiring of laid-off federal employees to fill vacant city positions. Learn more at www8.honolulu.gov/dhr/fedopps. For convenience, here’s the link to the state’s effort, which we mentioned in a previous column: dhrd.hawaii.gov/OHHI.
Q: The federal government gives a preference in hiring to military veterans, attracting them to apply, and now they are getting laid off in droves. Auwe!
A: U.S. military veterans comprise about 30% of the federal workforce, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and they are not immune from the mass layoffs imposed by the Trump administration, as you pointed out. As for the hiring preference, you can read more about that at opm.gov/fedshirevets.
Q: Please print the Hawaii phone numbers for our congressional delegation. Not all of us are online.
A: Here are local contact numbers as listed on the senators’ and representatives’ websites, where additional contact information is available, including phone numbers to their Washington, D.C., offices and options to send email or letters.
>> Sen. Mazie Hirono, 808-522-8970 or 844-478-3478 (toll free), hirono.senate.gov
>> Sen. Brian Schatz, 808-523-2061, schatz.senate.gov
>> Rep. Jill Tokuda, 808-746-6220, tokuda.house.gov
>> Rep. Ed Case, 808-650-6688, case.house.gov
Auwe
These mass federal layoffs are going to drive everything to “online service,” which is fine for most people, but good luck if you have even the slightest complication in your case, form, request, etc. — the computer can’t handle it! And now the person who could have helped you is being laid off! Auwe! — A reader
Mahalo
Many thanks to the young man who lifted my heavy purchases into the trunk of my car at Iwilei Costco. He was with his mother, who approached very gently, so as not to startle me, as I struggled to lift a case of canned goods from the cart. I appreciate their kindness. — A reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
