HONOLULU (KHON2) — There’s a proposal to make a busy stretch of Kaimuki safer. It could however, mean fewer parking spaces in an area where stalls are already hard to find.
Get Hawaii’s latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You
Waialae Avenue from First through 11th Avenues is a bustling stretch. Those who live or work here are all too familiar with the dangers on the roadways.
“There’s just a lot of people crossing the road that are getting hit. It’s either blind turns or people just rushing through we see so many accidents,” said Jordan Lee, owner of The Public Pet.
In addition to businesses and residences in the area, there’s also a lot of schools, which can lead to a lot of congestion, especially during the morning rush hour.
Councilmember Calvin Say introduced a resolution asking the city to come up with solutions to make the area safer.
One idea being considered is to not allow parking on the cross streets within 50 yards from Waialae Avenue. Say said those parked cars cause blind spots for residents coming out of their driveway.
“It’s very difficult to see the cars coming across and vice-versa because of these automobiles that are parked there,” he said.
Say admits that parking is hard enough to find in the area, but he said maybe they should add on to the municipal lots.
“It’s only ground level, we never did think about going elevated whereby you have a private contractor managing it,” he said.
Those KHON2 spoke with aren’t crazy about having less parking but admit that the safety issues need to be addressed.
“Because the way that things have kind of increased over the last seven years that I’ve been here, it just seems like it’s happening all the time, so something has to happen,” said Lee.
Say admits the proposal is controversial but the study should help create new ideas. Another issue that needs attention is the traffic light on 8th Avenue.
“I would say at least once a month you will hear a car accident and it’s normally a pretty big wreck because they’re flying it as they go down Waialae. And it’s always somebody coming down 8th that’s getting hit,” said Travis Fukumitsu, manager at Punchbowl Fender Works.
Say points out that the traffic light is harder to see because it’s lower than the others in that area. So he wants the light raised like the others.
