When did we taxpaying citizens largely accept endless red tape and the seemingly gross ineptitude of state and local government agencies as the extant norm? Accordingly, the word of the day for any government-administered project now seems to be either delayed or mega-debt.
Apparently, recent highway construction equipment impacts to the 19th century kerbstone horse Mamalahoa Trail and the mauka-makai Trail to the Sea were identified at the beginning of November 2016. Why were these two trails, specified on the State Inventory of Historic Places, not identified during the project planning phase? In late July 2016 the HDOT found a “possible site breach” at four locations:
* 70 feet of Mamalahoa Trail near Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
* 22 feet of Mamalahoa Trail at Kealakehe Road
* 16 feet of Trail to the Sea near Hina Lani Street
* 20 feet of Trail to the Sea “unspecified” (would someone please define the “unspecified possible site breach?”)
As of Dec. 16, the HDOT has neither addressed questions about side roads nor what the project changes could do to the overall cost.
http://buildqueenk.com/faqs/ states:
“1. What caused the delay from the last planned start date (January 2012)
The discovery of a number of previously unknown historic sites, including burials, required reopening of the Section 106 consultation process and evaluation of Section 4(f) avoidance and mitigation evaluation. This is required by federal law. This process is time consuming as the interests of a number of different agencies and advocacy groups need to be taken into account and agreement reached on a path forward that addresses them. Also, it was necessary to investigate whether historic sites could be avoided by redesigning the highway alignment.”
Duh. What happened? Do USDOT, HDOT and Goodfellow Brothers, Inc. share this information? Seems like they do not.
http://buildqueenk.com/faqs/ states:
“3. How much is the project going to cost?
Final cost is not known at this time because the redesign is not yet complete and escalation costs have not been agreed, but probably in the range of $100 million.”
Methinks the $100 million cost will be grossly exceeded. What say you?
Historic trails and roads on the mainland U.S. were conducive to settlement and development. Many were created by American Indians, and unmarked graves surely abound. Portions of numerous historic routes, which were in use prior to the creation of the American Highway System in 1926, became a part of that system. Is Hawaii any different?
Jack Faessler is a resident of Kailua-Kona