Question: Do you know what those utility poles that were recently erected on Pali Highway near St. Stephen’s Diocesan Center are for? They appear to be supports for high-voltage lines but they are positively ugly!
Answer: Those tall wooden poles looming on both sides of the highway are temporary, although you’ll have to look at them for the next few months.
The "pole structures" were installed as a temporary safety precaution by Hawaiian Electric Co.
Installation was coordinated with the state Department of Transportation, said HECO spokesman Darren Pai.
It’s part of the maintenance work HECO is doing on overhead transmission lines that pass over Pali Highway.
The project is expected to take several months, Pai said.
"We apologize to drivers and Windward residents for any inconvenience," he said.
When the work is complete, the wooden structures will be removed.
Question: I dive at Shark’s Cove every summer. Parking is always at a premium so arriving early is a must. About noon on Sunday, July 17, there were three men wearing gray polo shirts sporting a company logo. They had coned off several parking spots and had a sign by the road advertising valet parking (no price posted). There wasn’t an obvious event anywhere to be seen. This is a state park and all of the parking is supposed to be free to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. I have been diving at this park for years and have never seen anything like this before. Why was this allowed?
Answer: The valet parking was not authorized by either the state or city.
If anyone sees this happening again, call the Honolulu Police Department "to report this illegal activity," said Craig Mayeda, administrator of Parks Maintenance and Recreation Services for the city Department of Parks and Recreation.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources oversees some lands makai of the beach park as part of the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District.
But the land and beach area in the vicinity of Shark’s Cove is a part of Pupukea Beach Park set aside to the city by executive order, said DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
"The alleged ‘valet parking’ cannot happen" on this land, she said. "We are not aware of any permit/authorization given by us for the parking activities."
Mayeda said the parking lot at Shark’s Cove is under the jurisdiction of the city Parks Department.
"Staff has no knowledge of a valet parking business using the parking lot," he said.
Auwe
To the driver of a Mini on Friday, July 15, on Kiapu Street (the little street that feeds from North School Street over the H-1 freeway and intersects Liliha Street). You blocked the right-turn lane about five car lengths back from the intersection, so that you could force yourself into the left lane to get onto H-1 eastbound. It didn’t matter that the light was red and there were about 15 cars already in that lane. You shook your head at me that you were not going to move — that you were more important than the five cars you were blocking in the right lane, the car you forced yourself in front of and the few cars already in the correct lane that were not able to clear the intersection because of you. You did not even think of moving forward slightly to make room for us to pass. Your brain matched the make of your car. — A Disciplined Driver
