Ground broken on Lahaina bypass

'I thought i'd never see this'

The Maui News
Saturday, April 4, 2009

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer

LAHAINA - Forty years in the making, the Lahaina bypass officially broke ground Friday with both supporters and protesters showing up for the long-awaited event.

Guests arriving for the historic groundbreaking ceremony held at the intersection of Ikena Avenue and Lahainaluna Road were greeted by peaceful, sign-waving protesters expressing concern about access to Hawaiian lands and traffic safety for children.

In his remarks, Lt. Gov. James R. "Duke" Aiona Jr. spoke of his and Gov. Linda Lingle's commitment to see the project through. He thanked the community for its persistence and patience and warned that the project - in its first phase, or Phase 1A - still might not be in the clear.

"There will be bumps along the way," Aiona said. "Hopefully it'll be small bumps."

Most of the protesters put down their signs by the time the ceremony started, but a few lingered, including one man who stood within 10 feet of Aiona while holding a handmade sign that described the governor as a dictator and snake.

The night before the groundbreaking, West Maui resident Yolanda Dizon had called the Lahaina bypass project "shibai," or fake, at a public meeting and said she did not believe safety was the real priority of Lingle or the state Department of Transportation.

Dizon returned Friday morning to the groundbreaking with a handmade sign protesting the desecration of lands and the Hawaiian culture.

Dizon and about 50 other people had attended a public informational meeting at the Lahaina Civic Center to discuss the next phase of the bypass, called Phase 1B-1. Public input Thursday night had concentrated on Phase 1A and concerns that a detour created off Lahainaluna Road would cause more traffic congestion and pose safety problems for children walking to any of three area schools.

State Transportation Director Brennon Morioka said that his department planned to bring the safety concerns to the county, which holds responsibility for Lahainaluna Road and its surrounding streets.

Morioka said he would consider asking the bypass contractor to hire a flag person or off-duty police officer to help direct traffic just above the bypass project to ensure safety in and around the area.

Princess Nahienaena Elementary School Principal James "Kaipo" Miller did not attend Thursday's meeting but was present for Friday's groundbreaking. He said he did not believe the bypass construction or detour passage, in itself, was dangerous.

"I don't see it as a problem," Miller said. "Monday will be the telltale sign," he said, referring to public schools reopening after a two-week spring break.

"People are just going to have be more responsible and alert," Miller said.

At Friday's groundbreaking, Morioka said he took on the bypass project as the state Highways Division chief about four years ago and faced a lot of skepticism from West Maui residents, who have been talking about the project for at least four decades.

"It's been a lot of talk and very little action," said Morioka, who didn't seem to take the protests personally. "What I represented was a lot of broken promises, a lot of inaction."

He said Friday's groundbreaking represented the end of those unfulfilled promises to the people of West Maui and Maui in general.

Phase 1A is expected to provide immediate traffic relief for the Lahainaluna Road corridor, which serves three public schools - Princess Nahienaena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High - and residential subdivisions in Kahua Tract and Kelawea Mauka.

When completed, the project will provide an alternate route to the highway through the Keawe Street extension.

That route will alleviate congestion at the Lahainaluna Road/Honoapiilani Highway intersection.

Officials believe the alternate route will ease traffic in and around Lahaina.

Moreover, Morioka said the road improvements will support tourism by facilitating visitor travel through West Maui.

State Sen. J. Kalani English, D-East Maui, Molokai and Lanai, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said he hopes the new bypass will improve the quality of life for residents.

"It'll help bring more time for your families," he said, "helping you to safely get where you want to go."

Phase 1A began in late December with contractor Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. starting work on detours around Lahainaluna Road. The $48 million, half-mile Phase 1A bypass begins near the Lahainaluna Road/Ikena Avenue intersection and runs north on Ikena to a Keawe Street extension, which intersects at its makai end at Honoapiilani Highway near the Lahaina Cannery Mall entrance.

The first phase is one of several that ultimately will result in a four-lane bypass highway spanning approximately nine miles from Launiupoko to Honokowai.

General contractor for Phase 1A is Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. Inc., which had up to 14 workers assigned to the bypass Friday. Had it not been for the project, they probably would be unemployed, said George Reinhardt, Hawaiian Dredging project supervisor.

"All our workers are happy. They really appreciate the job," he said.

Phase 1A has had its share of starts and stops. Most issues stemmed from a lack of federal funding or of state support as a priority project.

In 2005, a protest of the bidding process delayed the bypass start.

Then in July 2007, the project once again was placed on hold when a new field survey discovered significant archaeological sites, forcing a portion of the road to be realigned. The issue left some residents wary of the state's respect in handling ancient Hawaiian burials and access to kuleana lands.

Glenn Ii and his wife, Lehua, held signs to express concern before the groundbreaking ceremony.

"We keep stressing and stressing," Glenn Ii said. "Safety comes first, and we have to be able to have access to the lands."

Meanwhile, 81-year-old Anita Yamafuji, a Hopoe Place resident who lives several streets mauka of the bypass, said she supported the project because of the traffic relief it will bring.

"I thought I'd never see this," Yamafuji said. "I think it's great that after 40 years, it's finally going to happen."

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/516823.html

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