Finding an alternative road to Puna: Measure would fund surveys for possible routes

[Puna Grace]

By JOHN BURNETT Hawaii Tribune-Herald | Tuesday, February 1, 2022, 12:05 a.m.   https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...le-routes/

State Rep. Greggor Ilagan has introduced a bill that, if passed, would order and fund site surveys to identify the most suitable location for an alternate road to lower Puna makai of Highway 130.
“At the town halls I conducted last month, the issue my constituents identified more than any other is the need for PMAR,” Ilagan told the Tribune-Herald Friday, referring to a long-proposed Puna Makai Alternate Route.

---

House Bill 1403 passed its first floor reading on Jan. 19 and was referred to the House Transportation and Finance committees. As of Monday, it hadn’t been scheduled for a hearing. However, Ilagan, the vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, said he expects the bill to be heard by the committee, perhaps as early as this week.
According to the measure, it’s projected that Puna will grow by 42,000 residents, almost doubling its current population by 2035. In addition, the bill notes Hilo as the primary employment area in the region, with more than 40% of the area’s jobs.

[ChunksterK]

So PMAR is back on the legislative agenda again.  I don't know if Ilagan is going for the "old college try" to be able to tell some constituents he  did his best, or if he actually has some delusion that he's going to get somewhere with it.  I've personally spoken with the last two DOT district chiefs on this subject, and they both shook their head and said, "No way."  A makai alternate route is not in the DOT master plan for the Big Island, and there is no money for projects not in that plan. 

Ilagan would be better off trying to get the DOT to complete the upgrade to Hwy. 130 that is in the master plan and has been delayed multiple times.  They keep finding ways to divert the money for 130 elsewhere, usually Oahu.  Even something as simple as a sane redesign of the Shower-130 intersection would help.  Meanwhile, he's tilting at windmills.

[Chas]

Yeah, fund more surveys. That will help...

[Obie]

Greggor ran town halls and the an alternate route was number 1 among his continuants.
He is just doing what the people want. At least he's not trying to ban fracking in Hawaii like a previous Rep.

" A makai alternate route is not in the DOT master plan for the Big Island"

Maybe pass a law to force the DOT to quit ignoring a runaway train wreck of a problem.

---

This might be the easiest plan.

Extend Shower and connect to a road that follows Railroad thru Shipman but not HPP.[attachment=83]

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

This might be the easiest plan.

First, NIMFY.  Not in my front yard. 
Second, too expensive to buy out easements for a legal county road on Beach Road.  Latest listing is $525,000 for 1/2 acre.  Although admittedly, the county generally doesn't take cost into account on a project unless they don't want to build it anyway.

[kalakoa]

Lower Puna is perfectly designed to impede all development while still allowing growth.

Absent some creative new solutions, a train wreck is inevitable. I can hardly wait.

[Puna Grace]

     


Call Elon!

[Punaperson]

The subject of the  PMAR comes up every few years, usually during an election cycle. 

HOTPE - If memory serves,  the Beach Road option is in a tsunami evacuation zone which makes it ineligible for any federal funding. This makes the $ for any road even more out of reach. It also makes this option not practical for evacuation purposes if there is need during either tsunami or hurricane / high seas situations.

From my perspective, the Railroad Ave option is best.  If proposed and built decades ago, it would have worked, but now would probably be  screamed down by neighborhood opposition. 
Why it would have worked:  a ) the  portion of RR Ave between Maku'u and Pahoa was opened during the 2014 eruption, and was a good safety valve if the main Kea'au / Pahoa Rd. had been cut off;  b) anyone buying property on a street named 'Railroad Ave' should have had a clue that it was once ( and could be again ) a significant transportation route; and c) the Shipman portion of RR Ave can be acquired through eminent domain if / when there is the political will. 

Puna has historically had a dismal voter turnout, and the PMAR will only be planned / built when politicians cannot ignore the growing Puna population.  I'm not holding my breath.

[AaronM]

The more things change the more they stay the same.

[microage97]

Wow this is just ground hogs day......