Road Safety in Pahoa

[lotus]

I witnessed a horrible accident at the 130/Malama Exit yesterday. I was about 6 cars back, when I saw what I thought to be a fender bender. As I got closer, I realized it was in fact probably a fatal encounter where a motorcycle had collided almost dead on with a large truck. As I drove through the mess, I saw that the motorcycle had been turning on to the highway and the truck was turning off. They hit each other and the bike was now lodged under the front bumper of the truck. The guy on the bike had been thrown off, but his leg and foot, just below the knee were still attached to the bike, and blood was everywhere.

I spent the day yesterday in shock from all the blood and detached body part....

We NEED a light at that intersection. I've sen way too many accidents at that spot. The population is getting WAY too big for that intersection to handle. We need to take action NOW!!!! I want to start a petition to make that intersection safer and I want the help of as many volunteers as I can get to help me get the word out. Please email me if you will help me.

Please come together as a community and help on this one, guys.....

Lotus




"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

[Rob Tucker]

I certainly agree with you on the need for safer road conditions. There is a lot of work underway in the community and more needs to be done. It is frustrating to see just how long it takes for thought to turn into action with government.

Brian Jordan (I believe) made a suggestion a year or so ago that instead of waiting for years of funding process and engineering design for a signal - that on an emergency basis a portable signal light, operated by solar panels, can be placed for as little as $100,000. (Most new signals in Hilo seem to install at over $1 million.). That is a state highway. HDOT rules there.

I would suggest that perhaps you might talk to Brian and then again to our new group, Friends of Puna's Future, to hatch a plan that would push for, at least, some temporary
improvements.

Issues like these are life and death, literally.

[Bob Orts]

Rob, Has anyone asked the Chief of Police to intervene. HCC gives the Chief the authority to enact emergency traffic rules (up to 90 days) to implement measures if needed. Although the common thinking is this is for special event, HCC does not limit it to only that purpose. All the Chief has to do is declare the intersection unsafe and impose emergency traffic control. Once that's done, all heck will follow if government refuses to act after such a declaration.

And if government refuses to act, the people need to decide if they are serious about this and start a ballot referendum. Hawaii gives its citizens the right to take control when government fails to act. This may be one of those items where FoPF needs to take this drastic route.

[Guest]

Lotus -

I'm sorry you had to witness something like this and I certainly hope it's not your friend.

I don't feel a stop light is needed in that particular spot because that would add to congestion.

I think if the speed limit was lowered there, that might help while allowing the traffic to move.

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Today in History
The Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that slaves were not citizens, 1857

[peteadams]

Whatever happened to the Kahakai roundabout proposed as an alternative to the intersection? Is the DOT dead set against the concept?

[lotus]

[quote]Originally posted by Damon

Lotus -

I don't feel a stop light is needed in that particular spot because that would add to congestion.

I think if the speed limit was lowered there, that might help while allowing the traffic to move.


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Damon, The speed limit is ALREADY lowered there. I'll take congestion over dead people any day. Why is everyone in such a rush!?! The problem is that the intersection is designed badly to begin with. Then you have all these people driving through there who are in a rush and think that their priorities are more important than safety. Unless the whole intersection is going to be redesigned we must have a stop light to SLOW PEOPLE DOWN! I've only lived here for 5 months and I've seen 7 accidents there, all of them serious. We also need to open up the other side of the Malama parking lot for cars to go out a different way. That will ease some of the congestion.

Regardless, I never think that a stop light is bad when it has the potential to save lives...


"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

[Guest]

I think the speed limit could be lowered even more.

I see accidents in front of my house on a main road on Oahu at least once a week (literally).

There is no way that they would put a stop light out there on this street because it would just back traffic up.

Yes, I understand it's a terrible intersection.

However, when it was designed, there wasn't near the population that there is today.

Would you go for possibly blocking off the access completely at the intersection so that Pahoa Village could only be entered from the High School end since that light just went up there w/in the last few years?

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Today in History
The Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that slaves were not citizens, 1857

[Liz]

The speed limit is indeed lowered to 45 which is still ridiculously fast for that intersection. It should be more like 35.

I agree that a roundabout would be the optimal solution, but it seems like it would take ages to implement. Worth starting the process, for sure. But until then, the temporary stop light would be a real life-saver - and I mean that quite literally. I'd rather sit in backed up traffic because of a stop light than I would because of another horrendous accident.

I drive through this intersection every time I go anywhere, and I cringe every time too. It's scary! SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!!!!

Lotus, I am so sorry for your traumatic experience in witnessing that horrible accident. I pray your friend is safe and sound.


aloha, Liz

"The best things in life aren't things."

[Haole]

I am sorry you (and all the others at the scene) had to go through that, Lotus. The sad truth is before Malama existed, I had seen at least 3 dead bodies on the road between Keaau and Pahoa, mostly around the Ainaloa turn off. I know how traumatic it is and how such can really stay with a person... The highway congestion gets exponentially worse each year. I think a reduction in the speed limit all the way down the highway from Keaau to Pahoa is a good idea. Accidents tend to be not nearly as deadly when they occur at lower speeds...

I hope your friend was not involved in the accident, Lotus. But, he was someone's friend and most likely, someone here on PW knew him. Sad.

[Rob Tucker]

Gee, it's always a shame when it takes a dramatic and tragic accident to get anyone's attention. Whomever was injured I hope they will be alright.

There has been a lot of concern and talk and thinking and organizing on the issue of road safety in Puna over the years. Just not quite enough it seems.

Someone told me once that here in Hawaii if you can rally 1,000 people to an issue you can get anything you want. The PCDP (Puna Community Development Plan) managed to get about 300 citizens to spend considerable time and energy on planning issues - very much including road safety. The PCDP is now making recommendations to the County Council which can become law, code and plan - if it has sufficient support.

I can't quite recount all the efforts that have been made to date on this subject. There have been too many. In each case it was a minority of concerned citizens working, at times under criticism, on road safety.

The State of Hawaii DOT is the king of Hwy. 130. I've seen evidence that the CoH and DOT do not coordinate as well as we might wish. Call or write the Chief of Police and mayor to demand a signal at this intersection? Sure, do it. Get 1,000 people to call or write and it might just happen.

Roundabouts? At the STIP meeting last August I got the head engineer of HDOT to promise he would provide a cost/benefit analysis of roundabouts vs signals. Still waiting. But Kahakai / Hwy. 130 seems to be the only interestion they are (maybe) considering.

Very close to this accident we have a school with 300 students. HAAS. The klids are crossing a 55 mhp road without a crosswalk. People are doing 70. We want a crosswalk and lower speed limit. It's just not as simple as logic and wanting it. The issue gets choked by process.

If you read the topic: Lingle releases $535K for a left-turn at Maku`u you'll begin to understand why I was so impressed with that successful funding for a turn lane at Maku`u Farmer's Market..

Only by organizing broadly and effectively on Puna's issues and the process can the hope for progress be speeded up. Frankly in my opinion that takes lawyers and that takes money. We (FoPF) are beginning to gain momentum. I do hope that, be it sidewalks or road improvements, we can prevent more loss of life and personal injuries one of these days. Before it's too late for someone you may or may not know.