Access to Mauna Kea

[TomK]

We should have a meeting about this.

[ironyak]

Not that it matters, but both DHHL and the AG say that Mauna Kea Access Road belongs to the DOT. Perhaps we can deputize the DOT's cone boys and send them up on weekends (with overtime of course) to redesign the lanes and create a clear path? (maybe shave 10 years off TMT's commute)

https://bigislandnow.com/2019/08/30/hdot...d-dki-hwy/

[TomK]

You know, what has pissed me off more than anything, for whatever reason, are the comments from some people (not here) who say it is not dangerous to have observatory vehicles drive across a lava field and through an encampment of protesters and their children. Their main comment has been that the observatories are responsible for not putting up lights on the spur road being used by the observatories to gain access to the mountain.

OK. Maybe some are pissed off with the new energy-efficient lights that we now see throughout the island on our roads, but who in the hell would ever put street lights on a patch of lava rock in the middle of the saddle that is not meant to be used by traffic?

See the other thread about shooting at hurricanes to see what I really think. I usually try to be diplomatic but there comes a point where I despair so much that Idiocracy is already upon us.

[kalakoa]

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...isdiction/

Attorney General Clare Connors stated Friday that, being a public road operated by the DOT, the current blockade of the access road is unlawful.

Pretty clear statement, there. Maybe with a few more lawsuits we can discover its meaning?

[dan d]

Low of only 58 on the Mauna this week gotta get a lot colder first. Yep that article basically sums up what has been said all along. Blocking any road is illegal
But who has the ba---s to do anything about it.

I really needed to go up 2 weeks ago for my ptsd. No luck


HPP

[Punatic007]

Tom K please know that the vast majority of folks on this island feel absolutely disgusted and mortified about the disrespect and injustice done to TMT, the existing observatories and their staff. Please accept our apologies, we had no idea this type of ignorant insanity would ever occur.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

comments from some people (not here) who say it is not dangerous to have observatory vehicles drive across a lava field and through an encampment of protesters and their children.

The protestors' actions show little regard for general safety. Long shifts by police at Mauna Kea Access Road are now necessary so traffic can move safely through an intersection not designed for hundreds of additional cars, trucks, and pedestrians entering, exiting, and crossing the highway.

All of Hawaii County’s police officers were working 12-hour shifts at the height of activity on the mountain in the second half of July, and officers assigned to work on the mountain did not get any days off during that period, he said.

... officers on the mountain continue to work 12-hour shifts, he said.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/08/2...-protests/


Hawaii County recently changed their police overtime procedure due to an accident in which Hawaii County paid out $15 million, the largest settlement ever of it's kind in the state. An exhausted police officer working a double shift was found at fault:

Jeffrey Surnow was killed in 2015 when he was struck by a police patrol car while riding a bicycle. The officer at the time was working on his second consecutive eight-hour shift.

Until recently, Big Island Police routinely required officers to work these back-to-back shifts, attorneys for Surnow’s family said.
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/08/31...d-officer/


And now protestors have put police back on extended overtime. Another accident waiting to happen?

[TomK]

Assuming the protest continues and the access road remains blocked, we are moving into the time of year when thick fog is common at the intersection of the Saddle Road and the access road. This fog can be so thick it is almost impossible to see what's five feet in front of you. Combine that with driving over a lava field with various protesters and their kids running across the access trail the observatories have is exactly that, an accident waiting to happen.

Then we have some of those commenters saying just turn your lights on. Maybe some here don't have experience driving in thick fog at night. Of course the vehicles will have their lights on, but thick fog simply reflects light back at you so you will still not see something in the road ten feet away until you meet it.

Then the observatory vehicles have to deal with large pickup trucks that have a dead battery but just happen to have that failure as they are parked on and perpendicular to the trail and block access completely.

[kalakoa]

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...isdiction/

Anyone else notice that the HTH version leaves out the part where the AG clearly states that the blockade is unlawful, while keeping the part about how the "jurisdictional issue" can still be "challenged"?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

the HTH version leaves out... the blockade is unlawful, while keeping the part about... can still be "challenged"?

The on-island version of events. It keeps campers, blue tarps, tents, propane canisters, and clogged parking spaces away from their doorstep.