Letters: 4-7-16

Bring back highway coral

This letter is to those who decided we needed to get rid of the coral graffiti lining the Queen Kaahumanu Highway. True, the coral was not natural to the lava, but it did not damage the environment in any way and was a unique feature of our Big Island.

Now as you drive the highway you see more and more white spray paint graffiti on the lava. Unfortunately, the white paint graffiti brings the slums of most big cities to our lava paradise.

Wouldn’t it be better for the beauty of the Big Island if those coral cleaning volunteers would bring back the coral and spend their volunteer hours cleaning up the garbage and litter that now line the highway? Those who need to leave their mark can do so in coral and we won’t have to look at the hideous white spray paint.

Libby Longinotti

Waikoloa

Add sports center to golf course

Sports-minded people in West Hawaii, in particular golfers, are always bemoaning the lack of facilities for such activities as golfing, tennis and a shooting range.

Well, what about a determined effort to get the state or the county to lease the now abandoned Bishop Estate Kamehameha Schools mauka golf course in Keauhou before it is turned into another large subdivision? I am sure there is also room enough for your shooting range and tennis courts and even a few other activities. After all, didn’t the Hawaiians of yesteryear use that area as a sports center? Anything is better than more subdividing of lands, which will only add to the already overall congestion we face here on the west side. Let’s face it, we do need more sports-inclined areas on the island, so why not start with a greenbelted sports area in Keauhou, Kona.

Hugo von Platen Luder

Holualoa

Saddle signs would help safety

It is wonderful to see that further improvements, including an extension of the passing or middle lane, are being made to the Hilo side of our incredibly beautiful Saddle Road.

Hopefully these extension improvements will include signage to make the public aware of how three lane sections of the highway should be driven to maximize public safety. Being a frequent driver of this highway, it is not uncommon to see cars presenting dangers to other highway users by driving in the middle lane as if it were something other than a passing lane. As we all know and appreciate, heavy fog and rain are common occurrences on the Saddle Road — particularly for cars traveling up the mountain from Hilo on their way to west and north Hawaii Island.

In these times, safety for travelers is especially compromised when some drivers use the middle lane for reasons other than passing slower traffic. Appropriate signs on three-lane portions of Saddle Road need to be posted to inform drivers that slower traffic should stay in the right lane and that the middle lane should be used for passing only. Unlike trying to implement increased speed limits for portions of the highway that are more realistically related to highway speed design, there should be little if any reason to delay the posting of these signs. Please, safety traffic officials, let’s not wait to post these signs until we have a serious traffic accident on the highway!

Steve Bess

Waimea