Roads in need of a fix

State trying to keep up with construction as population swells

Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

by Nancy Cook Lauer
Stephens Honolulu Bureau

HONOLULU -- Lawmakers hope the state's new flexibility in designing roads and bridges will lead to more aesthetic and environmentally friendly transportation structures, but engineering experts say Hawaii remains woefully behind in building basic roads to accommodate a rapidly growing population.

The flexible road design program was mandated by the Legislature last year for the Hamakua-Honokaa Heritage Corridor and Upper Kona Road, as well as three other roadways in the state. The Department of Transportation told the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday it's formalized a policy to expand the edict to all new road improvement projects.

The American Society of Civil Engineers found that 65 percent of Hawaii's roads are in poor or mediocre condition, 23 percent of urban roads are congested, 47 percent of the bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and each motorist in the state spends $347 a year in extra vehicle repair and operating costs because of bad roads.

Vehicle traffic on Hawaii highways jumped 15 percent from 1990 to 2003 while population grew 13 percent, the ASCE study found. Road construction simply hasn't kept pace.

Interim Transportation Director Barry Fukunaga disputes ASCE's assertion that nearly half of the state's bridges are in such bad shape. He thinks it's closer to 37 percent that needs upgrading.

"We have a program of retrofitting and advancing bridges," Fukunaga said after the hearing.

But the problem could be even worse on the Big Island, according to a Stephens Media analysis of data compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. The analysis found that 66.4 percent of the island's 262 bridges need some rehabilitation, and 24 percent are in such bad shape they may need to be replaced.

The five worst bridges on the Big Island, according to the Federal Highway Administration data, are Ahualoa Dry Road, Akolea Road over Kaluiiki Stream, Mamalahoa Road over Inoiono Gulch, Alii Drive at Kahului Bay and Mamalahoa Road over Opea Stream.

Senate Transportation Chairman J. Kalani English, D-East Maui, Molokai, Lanai, was most concerned about bridges in his district.

"I have to look at the future, and there is a number of degradation of the bridges," English said. "So unless we come up with a plan to deal with the degradation of the bridges, the repair and maintenance of the bridges, we will be stuck with the weakest ones giving out."

Fukunaga and Linda Figg, president of the Tallahassee, Fla.-based Figg design company, said it's important to get the public involved before the design phase of road and bridge projects, as the community will have to deal with the finished product on a day-to-day basis. Figg, whose company has won numerous "bridge as art" awards, creates day-long workshops, where community members discuss and then vote on the design.

"As we go through the day, we build the bridge together," Figg told members of the committee.

The state's new flexible design mandate requires input from experts in environmental protection, historic preservation, scenic conservation and bicycling and pedestrian transportation.

"Public involvement is the cornerstone of a sound program," Fukunaga said. "It's important to interact with the community. ... We are spending greater amounts of time trying to establish involvement of the community ... so that they can influence the design in a meaningful way."

While some lawmakers are concerned the new flexibility will delay much-needed road projects even further, historic preservationists think it's an idea long overdue.

"I think this is an important first step," said Kiersten Faulkner, executive director of the Historic Hawaii Foundation, "and there are many more steps on the road to get where we need to be."

Nancy Cook Lauer can be reached at nclauer@stephensmedia.com.

Copyright © 2007 Hawaii Tribune Herald.

Original article URL: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/03/13/local_news/local03.prt

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