Beach Road would be terrible alternate road
The County of Hawaii is planning to pave Beach Road for the only access in and out of lower Puna. Hello, there is a big problem — the road runs 3 feet from the ocean! Even at a high tide, the road is wet.
Any minuscule tsunami of an inch will wipe out the emergency road they have chosen for us. Ridiculous to waste money paving a road which already washes over when the tide is high, leaving all of lower Puna stranded. Beach Road is fine the way it is, just drop gravel and grade it once in a while.
Time to break out the bulldozer and make the Nanawale to Hawaiian Beaches to Hawaiian Paradise Park alignment — and make it now! Shipman can give some land to make the secondary access road from Nanawale to Hawaii Paradise Park and to Hilo. That estate has created most of the substandard subdivisions in Puna and owes the people of Hawaii a safe alternative access to Hilo. It is called eminent domain. Use it.
Sara Steiner
Pahoa
Hawaii loaded with multiple nicknames
In response to a recent letter on the question of giving the Big Island of Hawaii a (formal?) name, our island already has a name. Actually, it has several: Orchid Isle, Big Island, Moku ‘O Keawe, Hawaii Island, Island of Hawaii, The Volcano Island, etc.
If someone does not like referring to the Big Island as “big island,” they may want to consider using one of the other generics. Similarly, there are other names such as the “Saddle Road” also referred to as the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, or Route 200, etc.
On the other hand, some may see a downside using nicknames such as “Old A,” “Queen K,” “DKI Highway,” “Henry Street,” “King Kam,” “A-Bay,” etc. as being disrespectful.
Just kidding on Henry Street! What’s next? Change the Hawaiian street and road names to English names? Relax. Enjoy the diversity! This is Hawaii … the “big island.”
Likeke Bumanglag
Kailua-Kona