HB2802

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the eighty thousand residents of the Waianae Coast have long suffered from inadequate traffic access into various areas on the leeward coast and out to central Oahu and beyond, especially in times of emergency. For example, in January 2000, a hostage situation on Farrington Highway in Nanakuli left thousands of leeward coast residents stranded for hours while police negotiated with the suspect. In May 2000, a burst water main that collapsed a section of Farrington Highway caused another massive traffic jam on Memorial Day. In August 2005, brush fires ravaged mountains and valleys in Nanakuli, closing Farrington Highway twice, cutting off access to and from the Waianae Coast for several hours in the morning and again at night. In March 2006, twelve electric utility poles were blown down by unusually high winds in Nanakuli, causing more than a day's traffic congestion and affecting all four lanes on Farrington Highway as electric company crews closed lanes to replace the utility poles. Again in December 2007, heavy winds and rains damaged at least thirty-six electric utility poles and downed electrical lines in Nanakuli and Maili, causing some lane closures on Farrington Highway as workers repaired the damage.

During some emergencies in the past, the public was permitted to use the four-mile Kolekole Pass, which runs through the United States Naval Magazine at Lualualei over the Waianae Range and connects Schofield Barracks, as a detour route to and from the Waianae Coast. Kolekole Pass, constructed in 1937 by army engineers, is an unimproved road on military property with no street lights or shoulders in some areas. Civilian access to Kolekole Pass is difficult and complicated as coordination involving major security issues governing both Lualualei and Schofield Barracks is required with military officials who control access to the restricted area. Prior to the temporary opening of the Kolekole Pass to civilian traffic during the August 2005 brush fires in Nanakuli, civilians were similarly allowed to use the road in July 2003, when a police officer and a child were killed and five other people were injured in a head-on collision that closed all four lanes of Farrington Highway.

The legislature finds that the planned use of Kolekole Pass during emergencies is unreasonable and impractical. A more feasible alternate route in and out of the Waianae Coast lies in widening the path around Kaena Point to accommodate vehicular traffic that will allow a single lane of traffic to move in either direction.

The purpose of this Act is to open up Kaena Point to establish a single lane of traffic in either direction to provide access to the residents of the Waianae Coast during emergency incidents when Farrington Highway is closed down, preventing residents from going to and from work and returning home.

SECTION 2. Kaena Point emergency alternate access road; department of transportation; plan, design, and construct; annual reports to legislature. (a) The department of transportation shall plan, design, and construct an emergency alternate access road into and out of the Waianae Coast in leeward Oahu around Kaena Point to allow one lane of traffic going in either direction. The department's plan shall include at least the following:

(1) A description of the geographic area affected by the planned construction;

(2) Any requirements for invoking eminent domain to acquire rights-of-way to construct the access road;

(3) Estimated total cost of the project;

(4) Estimated timeline of the project; and

(5) Any other relevant items deemed appropriate or necessary by the director of transportation.

(b) The department of transportation shall begin construction of the access road no later than .

(c) The director of transportation shall report annually on the progress of the construction project, including findings, recommendations, and any necessary proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2009 and each regular session thereafter until completion of the project.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for plans, design, and construction of an emergency alternate access road into and out of the Waianae Coast in leeward Oahu around Kaena Point to allow one lane of traffic going in either direction.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of transportation for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval, except that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2802
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII