HR191

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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 and 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; and

WHEREAS, 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 the lanes to replace the utility poles; and

WHEREAS, heavy winds and rains in December 2007, again 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; and

WHEREAS, during some emergencies in the past, the public has been permitted to use the four-mile, unimproved Kolekole Pass, which was constructed in 1937 by United States Army engineers and 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 area; and

WHEREAS, for example, civilians were allowed to use the Kolekole Pass 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; and

WHEREAS, however, Kolekoke Pass is not a realistic or viable long-term option as an alternate route into and out of the Waianae Coast; and

WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 160, H.D. 1 (2000), which was adopted on April 13, 2000, requested the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization to comprehensively examine solutions to various traffic problems on the Waianae Coast, including determining the feasibility of an alternate route to the Waianae Coast and a route to and from the Waianae Coast to be used in times of emergency; and

WHEREAS, in 2002, the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization submitted a report to the Legislature entitled Report to the 2002 Hawaii State Legislature: On the Status of Waianae Coast Transportation Studies and Projects; and

WHEREAS, while the lack of a viable and permanent alternate route into and out of the Waianae Coast continues to be a problem, the issue has been examined and various plans and data have been generated; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the Department of Transportation is requested to review and update prior studies relating to the identification and feasibility of an alternate route into and out of the Waianae Coast on Oahu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is requested to fully cooperate with and support the Director of Transportation in the Director's review and update of alternate routes to and from the Waianae Coast; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Transportation is requested to submit to the Legislature a report of the review and update of plans for a feasible alternate route into and out of the Waianae Coast, including recommendations and any necessary legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation, the Executive Director of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Mayor and the Director of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Alternate Route to Waianae Coast; DOT Review and Update

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	191
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII