Letters to the editor | 12-9-14

Reconsider changing lanes for bikes

After reading the story on the changes to bike and accelerator lanes, I had to ask myself a couple of questions. Where does the money come from to pay for these highways? Answer, in part from the vehicles licenses. There is also federal money for the highway system. Is there a bike tax each year in the amount of hundreds of dollars to help pay for the “bike lanes?”

I am not against bikes or the riding of them on the highways, but even when there is a nice sidewalk unused next to the road? I am confused, when we wait years to get the highways fixed or widened to handle the traffic and now in a matter of months the cyclists can complain and a major change happens, “next week.”

This doesn’t make sense to remove an expensive section of the highway from use just to allow the bike lane to stay in place, state law I am sure did not mean it this way.

Tom Russi’s suggestion to the state Department of Transportation makes better sense, give the cyclist “their lane” but move it to the right side of the highway and give the merging traffic their lane to keep traffic moving. Doing away with the right-hand lane will only provide a large shoulder for motorist to drive down to make their right hand turns, just like some do now along other parts of the highway. Doing this will only cause accidents because of confusion, (when to stop/when to yield/when to speed up to merge) and this will slow down traffic once again.

Move the bikes to the right and leave the vehicle traffic the road to use to go to work and back home again. We are still waiting for the completion of Queen Kaahumanu Highway between Kealakehe Parkway and Kona International Airport, and this project taking priority, makes no sense.

Hopefully, no one is hurt or killed during this change over.

Bob Dempsey

Kailua-Kona