03-31-2013, 08:46 AM
I'm not sure how I feel about this (although I do know that I resent Russell from pushing this without asking community input first).
I think many people's perspectives on the 55 vs 45 speed limit depend on how and where they enter the highway. If they join south of Pahoa, where volume is lighter and gaps between cars are greater, then a higher speed between Pahoa and Keaau may seem logical. But for those of us who have to join 130 from a side road between Pahoa and Keaau, the jury is still out.
Thanks to the Highway department's aversion to traffic lights and Hawaii's unique custom of giving the right of way to people turning left from 130 rather than people turning right off 130, subdivision residents risk our lives every time we head to Hilo. For those of us on the mauka side, morning rush hour means threading a needle to get through sporadic fast, unrestricted Pahoa-bound traffic so that we can zip into our small merge area and then wait for a traffic opening that allows us to go from zero MPH to 55 MPH almost instantaneously. Going to Hilo in the late afternoon means playing the human version of "Frogger" - looking for a break in the fast, congested Pahoa-bound traffic (while our vision is blocked by the right hand turners) while simultaneously keeping track of the potential for Hilo-bound left-turners off 130 who are vying for the same few traffic gaps that we are.
So will slower speed limits add to congestion and make my turns harder or will slower traffic mean I have a better shot at merging easily? Will they cause the Keaau bottleneck to be even more backed up in the evenings than it is now? Will police be able to enforce the new limit effectively, or will drivers flout the law and drive at a mix of fast and slow speeds that will make life even more confusing? These are the issues I wish had received a full review before Russell arbitrarily decided to push for lower limits.
I think many people's perspectives on the 55 vs 45 speed limit depend on how and where they enter the highway. If they join south of Pahoa, where volume is lighter and gaps between cars are greater, then a higher speed between Pahoa and Keaau may seem logical. But for those of us who have to join 130 from a side road between Pahoa and Keaau, the jury is still out.
Thanks to the Highway department's aversion to traffic lights and Hawaii's unique custom of giving the right of way to people turning left from 130 rather than people turning right off 130, subdivision residents risk our lives every time we head to Hilo. For those of us on the mauka side, morning rush hour means threading a needle to get through sporadic fast, unrestricted Pahoa-bound traffic so that we can zip into our small merge area and then wait for a traffic opening that allows us to go from zero MPH to 55 MPH almost instantaneously. Going to Hilo in the late afternoon means playing the human version of "Frogger" - looking for a break in the fast, congested Pahoa-bound traffic (while our vision is blocked by the right hand turners) while simultaneously keeping track of the potential for Hilo-bound left-turners off 130 who are vying for the same few traffic gaps that we are.
So will slower speed limits add to congestion and make my turns harder or will slower traffic mean I have a better shot at merging easily? Will they cause the Keaau bottleneck to be even more backed up in the evenings than it is now? Will police be able to enforce the new limit effectively, or will drivers flout the law and drive at a mix of fast and slow speeds that will make life even more confusing? These are the issues I wish had received a full review before Russell arbitrarily decided to push for lower limits.