Campaigning at the Keaau bottleneck

[TomK]

I'm not sure if this should be in the Puna Politics section or not, but does anyone else have a problem with political campaigners sign waving at the bottleneck in Keaau? I'm talking about the part of the road where two-lanes on the bypass become one on H130.

Firstly, I think it's a hazard. During most of the day it's a fast moving zipper lane and shouldn't have people trying to distract drivers by waving at them from the side of the road.

Secondly, at rush hour, drivers should be concentrating on maneuvering safely and not have their attention swayed by people trying to attract their attention off the road. OK, that's probably part of point one!

Thirdly, are sign wavers actually causing more disruption, backups and delays at the bottleneck? I've nothing solid to back this up, but all week I've seen no bad backups at the bottleneck until this evening (Fri 9th July) and that just happens to coincide with the first sign wavers I've seen there. Usually a Friday evening sees no traffic jam, at least during the summer when there's little rain but today it was bad.

Anyone with thoughts? Anyone know if there have been accidents caused by sign wavers?

Tom

[robguz]

I always see it as this great irony. Especially around Christmas all the council members were there. It was sort of "Hey look at us, we're the people who haven't been able to get anything accomplished in fixing this backup you're stuck in for 20 minutes. And now we're distracting everyone to make the merge go even more slowly." Between this and the people selling food right after the merge, it should all be illegal. TomK you should write a letter to the paper about this. It's obnoxious, irresponsible, and potentially very hazardous.

[dmbwest]

LOL ... All true guys : )

aloha,
pog

[TonyB]

Right on Robguz...I had to laugh at that one too..LOL

[kimo wires]

Yeah Robguz! They might as well be holding signs that read...
VOTE FOR ME_____KEEPING THE STATUS QUO.
OR
I'M RUNNING ON A NO CHANGE POLICY
OR (if someone is really serious)
VOTE FOR ME...I'LL FIX THIS MESS!

One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.

[Chuysmom]

Everytime there is an election this issue comes up LOL!! They ARE distracting and yet it seems like such a local tradition - how can they get YOUR attention? Not sure what the solution is. Maybe it takes an accident to change things, right?

Carrie

http://www.sapphiresoap.etsy.com

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR

[808blogger]

@TomK ????? uhhhhh this is how politics works... nobody is making you look at them, let alone vote in their silly election. just ignore them

[robguz]

I don't look at them. Unfortunately enough people do that it makes the merge worse. It was absolutely worse yesterday, likely because Emily (could have been any of them) was there.

[dmbwest]

" Maybe it takes an accident to change things, right? "


Yep, like someone plowing into them ... With opposite party signs of course.

aloha,
pog

[missydog1]

They're distracting wherever they are. Kamehameha Ave, Hwy 19 where people are going fast. Not that I'm arguing with statement that Puna merge is worst of them all. But if you want to make safety the issue, then they should all be shut down.