Pahoa Feed to close soon

[kalakoa]

a left arrow into the Walmart delivery area for their trucks

Perhaps those trucks are delivering ... feed and fertilizer?

[terracore]

Here's a timely article: https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...ersection/

"According to the DOT, additional observations first week in November showed an average delay of 5.5 minutes for Keaau-bound travelers on this stretch of Highway 11. DOT will continue to observe the intersection and make safety adjustments."

So the new stop light on the highway at Shipman is adding 5.5 minutes per vehicle? Times what, 25,000 vehicles/day? A collective delay of 2,000+ hours per day? Over 3/4 a million hours per year? How many barrels of oil is that?

[Obie]

When the Shipman complex opened there was no traffic.
The Keaau bypass hadn't been built.
Everybody in Puna had to either go straight or make a left by ACE.
Imagine the traffic jam if the Keaau bypass wasn't there.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

DOT will continue to observe the intersection and make safety adjustments."

Shipman Industrial Stoplight
New!
Improved!
Now with Dynamic Maximum Green!

Dynamic maximum green time for Keaau-bound traffic on Volcano Road in the afternoon peak between 2 and 6 p.m. The signal facing southbound Volcano Road traffic is programmed to provide 130 seconds of green time for Keaau-bound drivers during the afternoon peak and to increase green time in 10 second increments if the max green time for this direction of traffic is hit more than twice. The maximum green time for Keaau-bound traffic will be 150 seconds.

Decrease in green time for the Kipimana Street signal to 15 seconds. Prior to the adjustment, the green time for this movement was 35 seconds.
https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2020/...-adjusted/

[terracore]

" Crash information from 2019 and 2020 showed at least four serious collisions at this intersection where a traffic signal may have provided effective mitigation."

Wasn't there a serious collision there the first week the light was activated? Maybe it's my lack of faith of others' driving skills but expecting a few hundred people per day to safely navigate that intersection without a light seems statistically more likely to succeed than the same number of people PLUS tens of thousands of "highway only people" navigating it with a light.

I'm just curious if the light doesn't "mitigate" the collision situation if it will be left in place regardless. Anybody using the light from the business park side with an opinion on it? Just from my observation the line of traffic there seems longer than it used to be. I've only made right hand turns out of there but never found crossing the highway to get into the park to be an issue.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I wrote this back in September on another thread.  It’s a solution that would not affect the 25,000 Puna commuters every day:

If I remember correctly,  back in the real estate boom of 2005(ish) several big box stores like Costco had inquired about building in Shipman Industrial Park.  The plan at that time was for the 3 way intersection at Hwy 11 & Hwy 130 to become a 4 way intersection with the fourth road leading directly into Shipman Industrial to handle additional traffic, and for the convenience of customers.
The stop & go light already existed.
It would not interfere with the traffic flow on Hwy 11.  
Shipman only had to build a short connecting street into their business park.

What happened?  The reason for the new stop light is due to the increased traffic from the industrial park.  If the industrial park is busy, so much so that they require a traffic light, wouldn't an additional entry/exit road solve the problem today and most likely be necessary in the future?  A second entrance into an area zoned industrial, which stores flammable & potentially dangerous substances would provide quicker access for the Keaau fire department, police, and medical personnel.  Doesn't your home require two entry/exits?  Why?  

An additional entryway into Shipman Industrial would prevent a traffic bottleneck for all Puna drivers in the short and long term. 
Or do the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many?

[kalakoa]

The reason for the new stop light is due to the increased traffic from the industrial park.

Didn't Puna Kai have to pay for their traffic light? As a condition of permit approval?

[terracore]

The existing light would have worked with just connecting the industrial park to the ball field (it is already a 4 way light) with a road. But connecting to the 3 way light makes good sense too, maybe more sense for accommodating large trucks.

"Didn't Puna Kai have to pay for their traffic light? As a condition of permit approval?"

Yes, and they paid for it.

A similar bribe was offered to the county for the OLE development but he went bankrupt, never finished the development, and therefore, no light. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it will get a COD instead.

"The reason for the new stop light is due to the increased traffic from the industrial park."

From what, Mirandas?

[kalakoa]

From what, Mirandas?

Growth, generally. It's the only MG-zoned property in Puna...