Speeding...again

[Hunt Stoddard]

My second speeding ticket in as many years, which is unusual for me. So naturally I come here to carp about it. This time it was at the infamous 45 down to 35 transition coming into Hilo. The problem for me, coming from California, where highway systems are, you know, somewhat intelligently designed, is that I have the sinking feeling that I may not actually be able to prevent future episodes, in which case I think a radar detector might actually be critical to my financial survival. It's not that I don't agree that the speed in that region should be 35, given that there are crosswalks across the highway, it's that some part of my brain tells me that I should be able to go 50 there, since it's the main thoroughfare through Hilo. It may only seem like the traffic systems here were designed by someone on LSD, but it may be more true that the unique history of land inaccessibility has made legacy upgrades the norm. In other words, they're "kludges" that people keep jury-rigging to work instead of tearing them all down and starting fresh. Case in point, the Puainako shopping strip, stretching from O'Reilly's to KTA. Can anyone seriously contend it wouldn't be improved by a bulldozer?

/rant