DOT doesn’t seem
concerned with ‘a‘a hazard
I would like to address Ms. Scroggin’s and Ms. Hughes’ concern regarding the ‘a’a rocks put down into the median strip on the new portion of highway. I completely agree with their concerns so I reached out to the DOT and this is the answer I received. It appears they don’t really care. It appears it’s their way on the highway.
Aloha Ms. Awai,
According to our Hawaii District Engineer, Aa rock was used as a median and intersection treatment for some areas of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway for the following reasons:
Maintenance of the narrow medians areas will be improved as grass, weeds, and other vegetation find it harder to take root and grow due to the lack of finer material. This minimizes District Maintenance forces having to access these medians areas and creates a much safer work environment for our crews.
In some areas, cars were crossing the medians to make illegal turns. By placing the Aa rock, these movements appear to have been eliminated. The Aa rock is being graded and flattened to minimize the possibility of any crash hazards or damage due to the rocks themselves.
The Aa rock was introduced into the project to enhance the cultural characteristics of the route by resembling much of Queen Kaahumanu Highway that travels though the lava fields. The rock has been well received by those who have been involved with the Section 106 process and the project.
I will forward your complaint to the Hawaii District. Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns.
Mahalo,
Shelly Kunishige
Department of Transportation
So, there you have it! As always, they will wait until something bad happens and they get sued and then they will “re-think” their decisions.
Kathy Awai
Waikoloa
Liberals got it all wrong
This morning I heard a replay from a speech New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave mocking President Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” saying, “America wasn’t that great to begin with.”
In a nutshell, this is what is wrong with the liberal wing of the Democrat party (which now seems to be most of it). Liberals hate America! They’re so negative about everything. Liberals see a racist, unfair, greedy (capitalist), country with little redeeming value. They appear to be collectively saying socialism would be a better path for America. I presume they are basing the latter on the vast success of all the great socioeconomic socialist countries around the globe (can you name one?).
America is great precisely because of capitalism. Indeed, the entire world has benefited from the success of America’s capitalism. Do you like riding in cars, smartphones, computers, flying in airplanes, the advancement of medical technologies, etc.?
Name any great achievement or advancements from any socialist country. America is a great country, but not a perfect one. It is a global work in progress. And we’ve come a long way. Don’t disregard America’s achievements and greatness just because she’s not perfect!
On a related note, I wrote a letter to the editor at the beginning of Trump’s presidency saying what the Dems fear most is that President Trump will be successful (of course, I was excoriated for being stupid and naive after it was published). They said Trump was unfit to be president.
Frankly, I’m thrilled with the Trump presidency so far. My family and I have personally benefited from the economic boom Trump is creating. I feel better about America and her direction than I did during the Obama years.
On a completely different topic, I love the new Queen Kaahumanu Highway! And I love the lava in the median. I hope they’ll continue it all the way from the airport to Henry Street and maybe add a few palm trees. After all, this is Hawaii. I’ve seen a couple of letters decrying the lava as dangerous. If you think lava on the side of the road is dangerous you are living in the wrong place.
Dave Chrisman
Kailua-Kona
