09-10-2017, 06:57 AM
Thanks for the link, kalakoa. The real story here is twofold:
First, there is no money for PMAR anywhere in sight. All the talk about "connectivity" and emergency access is meaningless without money, and the State won't fund it. Grant funding in an amount to construct a usable rural highway in a place like Puna is unheard of, and the "special improvement district" concept means increased property taxes for the subdivision residents should they (unwisely IMHO) choose to go that way. See kalakoa's post above for a conservative cost estimate.
Second, appropriated funding for the widening of Highway 130 is no long sufficient. They have $40M, but are looking at ways to spend it other than the comprehensive improvement four lanes would provide. On top of that, the spokesperson wasn't even sure the money would be released. Imagine that.
And the icing on the cake of the meeting is the County just reciting its road dedication specs yet again without any gesture of relief or compromise for the Puna subdivisions. Those bumps and line of sight issues mermaid53 correctly mentions are very expensive to fix, as an earlier and more competent HPP Board determined. Yes, the County can accept substandard roads, but something on the scale of all of HPP's arterials is unheard of.
In short, we are screwed and we will stay screwed.
First, there is no money for PMAR anywhere in sight. All the talk about "connectivity" and emergency access is meaningless without money, and the State won't fund it. Grant funding in an amount to construct a usable rural highway in a place like Puna is unheard of, and the "special improvement district" concept means increased property taxes for the subdivision residents should they (unwisely IMHO) choose to go that way. See kalakoa's post above for a conservative cost estimate.
Second, appropriated funding for the widening of Highway 130 is no long sufficient. They have $40M, but are looking at ways to spend it other than the comprehensive improvement four lanes would provide. On top of that, the spokesperson wasn't even sure the money would be released. Imagine that.
And the icing on the cake of the meeting is the County just reciting its road dedication specs yet again without any gesture of relief or compromise for the Puna subdivisions. Those bumps and line of sight issues mermaid53 correctly mentions are very expensive to fix, as an earlier and more competent HPP Board determined. Yes, the County can accept substandard roads, but something on the scale of all of HPP's arterials is unheard of.
In short, we are screwed and we will stay screwed.