STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1713

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 107

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.R. No. 107 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION TO CONVENE A JOINT HEARING WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND PERMITTING OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO CONSIDER THE LIKELY IMPACTS ON TRAFFIC BY THE PROPOSED TURTLE BAY RESORT EXPANSION AND MITIGATIVE MEASURES THAT MAY BE REQUIRED BY THE EXPANSION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request that the Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs and the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation convene a joint hearing with the participation of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu to consider the likely impacts on traffic by the proposed Turtle Bay Resort expansion.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Kuli‘ou‘ou/Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board #2; UNITE HERE! Local 5 Hawai‘i; Keep the North Shore Country; Defend O‘ahu Coalition; McNulty Civil Engineering; and thirty-five individuals.

     Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Kuilima Resort Company.

     Your Committees find that the Department of Transportation's mission is to provide a safe, efficient, accessible, and inter-modal transportation system that ensures the mobility of people and goods, and enhances and preserves economic prosperity and quality of life.

     Your Committees also find that Kamehameha Highway is a narrow, two-lane roadway that has seen tremendous traffic volume increases in recent years and is the only regional roadway on the North Shore of O‘ahu.  In addition, the O‘ahu Regional Transportation Plan for the year 2030 includes no significant capacity improvement for this highway within the next twenty-three years.

     Your Committees further find that the Kuilima Resort Company's 2005 Traffic Impact Analysis Report update estimates the expanded Turtle Bay Resort will generate up to two thousand fifty-four additional vehicle trips per hour and that the Kamehameha Highway cannot support the projected increase in vehicular traffic without improvements to provide additional capacity.

     In light of these concerns, your Committees amended this measure by changing the title and focus of the measure by requesting that:

     (1)  A North Shore Kamehameha Highway Traffic Congestion Task Force be established to conduct an assessment of traffic impacts of the proposed Turtle Bay Resort expansion and other developments in the region and to recommend mitigative measures that may be required by the expansion;

     (2)  The North Shore Kamehameha Highway Traffic Congestion Task Force be co-chaired by the Department of Transportation Services, and the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu;

     (3)  If the North Shore Kamehameha Highway Traffic Congestion Task Force finds that if the impacts of the proposed expansion bring the highway levels of service and volume-to-capacity ratio outside of national and State highway guidelines, then the Task Force is requested to:

          (A)  Recommend potential mitigative measures and broad estimates of the costs and timelines involved to implement the mitigative measures; and

          (B)  Make specific recommendations for measures, such as project phasing related to highway capacity expansion, that may be required of the developer;

     (4)  The North Shore Kamehameha Highway Traffic Congestion Task Force seek community input from residents and businesses located in the North Shore area, including the appropriate neighborhood boards, and conduct community public hearings or informational briefings; and

     (5)  The North Shore Kamehameha Highway Traffic Task Force report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and International Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 107, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 107, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and International Affairs,

____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair

____________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair