Posts: 997
Threads: 50
Joined: Aug 2012
quote:
Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge
I think I have a solution to the traffic problems on Highway 130. It's a two (or more) step process. Like glinda pointed out, the ruling party is at fault and should be held accountable for everything that occurs while they are in power. So first, we elect Republicans. Then we build a combination car and passenger transport system to augment our clogged highways. I'd call it The Super-Rail-Ferry.
To avoid adverse affects with existing roads, commuters, and homes while under construction, a majority of the rail line would traverse the property of large private land owners, state lands managed by the DLNR, and DHHL tracts on which homes have not yet been built.
If we start immediately, or right after the next election and statewide Republican landslide, I believe we can reasonably look forward to completion of Phase One of the project (Hilo to Keaau) by the early part of the 2100's.
The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?
this is a JOKE right? remind me again...how many republicans serve in our Hawaii gov.?
Posts: 11,027
Threads: 751
Joined: Sep 2012
As I was stuck in traffic gridlock yesterday, thank God for small favors, All Things Considered aired on NPR. The flooding in Houston and southeast Texas from Hurricane Harvey continued, so many of the stories concerned the plight of the people living in that area of our country.
As I passed Milo Street, the first story described the extent of the flooding in Texas, and how it was difficult to determine how long it might continue. As I looked ahead of me at a stream of barely moving cars on Highway 130, I thought how much my predicament was like that of the people in Texas who now watched the agonizingly slow pace of flood waters as they drained and receded from their impassible streets and highways.
When I neared Keaau High School I heard another story about a chemical plant outside of Houston that ignited, then poured plumes of smoke into the air, necessitating the evacuation of a 1.5 mile area around the facility. I looked ahead of me and behind at the never ending line of cars, and made certain all of my windows were rolled up tight, with my air system controls set at "Interior Recirculate" to avoid drawing in any noxious exhaust fumes from the outside where thousands of vehicles sat idling.
Somewhere close to the Humane Society and Transfer Station an announcer interviewed one of the hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, especially oppressive in the summer heat and humidity during August in the Gulf Coast area. I felt so uncomfortable as I listened to what he endured, I turned my AC down a notch (maybe two) from 72 to 70 degrees.
With no end in sight to the suffering ahead until I finally reached Shower Drive, I thought of what Leo Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina, well not exactly what he wrote, but to paraphrase:
Happy people are all alike; every unhappy person is unhappy in his own way.
I realized Tolstoy was old school. With the news, real or fake, at our fingertips we can easily imagine we're all alike in our unhappiness too.
When I finally returned home 25 or 30 minutes later than usual, I unpacked my groceries into the electrically functioning, not-submerged-in-flood-waters refrigerator. Something on the middle shelf caught my eye and I thought, yeah, after all I've been through, I better have a cold one.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
Posts: 1,059
Threads: 97
Joined: Mar 2009
HOTPE - good point. Our woes, inconvenient though they are, will pass rather quickly. The woes of thousands in Texas will take years.
Posts: 1,858
Threads: 46
Joined: Apr 2015
As of now it is stop and go Hilo bound from Kaloli onward. Happy Holidays everyone!
Posts: 604
Threads: 148
Joined: Jul 2007
What really bugs me is the 3-6pm hours on the extra lane. WTH is that about? I was in Pahoa bound traffic at 7:30pm jammed into 1 lane while the extra lane sits empty. Yes, I know the "zipper" just gets moved to Shower Dr. The traffic jam continued even past Kaloli.
Posts: 14,116
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
the 3-6pm hours on the extra lane. WTH is that about?
Lane does not meet minimum standards for full-time use, partly because of the HELCO poles which are "conveniently" installed on both sides of the highway so as to limit growth.
Posts: 1,175
Threads: 12
Joined: Jun 2008
kalakoa @ 14:08:53-
Compare the State's planning and funding for 130 to the drama around HART.
Lot less graft from 130 in amount of $ I guess. Ige is and Abercrombie and Lingle was useless and/or complicit,
HDOT is !@#$%^&*:?!!!!!!!&^%$#@.
It is probably safe to ignore Puna too for various reasons.
You could tell from where they put the poles and the provision for the bridges that the project was half-ass.
Posts: 11,027
Threads: 751
Joined: Sep 2012
does not meet minimum standards for full-time use
And how was it determined that the upper limit of safety for part time use of the shoulder lane was three hours, 3-6 PM, and not 4 hours? Is 6 to 7 PM too dark in winter? Do they know we have headlights on our Puna cars, as we're required to get them safety checked once every year? Do they know there are conveniently located power poles on both sides of the highway that could be installed with enough overhead fixtures to light up that stretch of road like the H-1?
The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
Posts: 14,116
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
You could tell from where they put the poles and the provision for the bridges that the project was half-ass.
I notice that HELCO moved their poles just enough to add one lane. If the full widening project ever happens, HDOT will get to pay HELCO to move their poles again.
It is probably safe to ignore Puna too for various reasons.
The solution is simple: if Puna is too much trouble for County and State, they can just cut it loose. Otherwise they're just collecting taxes with no intent to ever provide services... oh, right, of course.
Posts: 1,059
Threads: 97
Joined: Mar 2009
New State Motto: "Hawaii: We Do Not Know What We're Doing"
