Lako Blocko maybe the most common complaint or excuse in Kona. The impenetrable backup at the intersection of Lako Street and Highway 11, also known as Kuakini Highway, aka Hawaii Belt Road, and incorrectly as Queen Kaumana Highway, Mamalahoa Highway or even Highway 19 because the Department of Transportation will not put up street name signs.
Just when we had seen the last of the Kainaliu crawl the problem moved north 7 miles. It can take over 20 minutes from Kamehameha III Road through the Lako Street intersection northbound, not quite 2 miles. Bicycles and mopeds whipping by. Of course, that’s morning, and mostly affects those who live south of Lako. In the evening the traffic backs up through Kailua almost to the airport, it affects more people.
The preferred solution would be modernization of Highway 11 from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, with dedicated turn lanes and acceleration lanes at intersections. The two-and-a-half-lane intersection is hopelessly inadequate for the current traffic levels and it can only get worse because the DOT is broke. The proliferation of high mileage cars, hybrids and electrics has severely reduced the inadequate revenue from gas taxes that have not kept up with inflation. Since this rarely inconveniences any Hilo based politicians, much less the State of Honolulu, it gets a low priority.
For many years there has been talk of Alii Highway, parallel to Alii Drive. There have been 19½ studies of the proposal. The last study was never completed. Go to Public Works Engineering and look at the Alii Highway plans you will see an 80- to 100-foot wide complete-streets, designed to give every special interest group (bicyclers, joggers and wished for transit riders) whatever amenity they want. Eighty feet wide, with only two 12-foot lanes for traffic!
The resultant design is forever in limbo, bogged down by every nimby objection imaginable. The biggest problem is that the extreme width to accommodate the complete-street concept conflicts with numerous archaeological sites. There is not much point in providing all the recreational amenities a quarter mile from the coastline, because the strollers, joggers and bikers will prefer good old Alii Drive with its ocean views and breezes. After fighting this battle for 20 years, the county gave up and decided to spend the budgeted money on projects that can be completed. Wait for state DOT to improve Highway 11.
The county has already acquired the real estate, thus eliminating the largest cost. The preliminary engineering is already done. The land is off the tax rolls, just dedicated to growing weeds. If it is re-engineered, to the same parameters as the Alii Drive extension or the Ane Keohokalole Highway, the archaeological sites can be avoided, (the retired traffic chief told me).
Making it two lanes with 8-foot shoulders 40-feet wide instead of 80 feet will reduce the cost by at least half, and being narrower it can follow the contours of the land and might reduce it by half again.
Not asking for federal “assistance” might reduce cost by half again because of their stringent requirements. An extra two lanes between Keauhou and Kailua would be a 50 percent increase in capacity. A much bigger effect on traffic than a school closure or bank holiday. Those events reduce volume about 10% and traffic seems to disappear. When the bypass opened via Halekii Street, only 400 cars a day used the bypass, but the Kainaliu crawl virtually disappeared.
The DOT is not going to fix the Lako Blocko in the foreseeable future. It’s up to Hawaii County to make something work. Re-engineer Alii Highway from a clean sheet of paper to the same standards as Alii Drive Extension and build it before traffic in Kona turns into an East Coast nightmare. There are budget issues, there are always budget issues. They took the budget from Alii Highway to do something else. This needs a serious investigation.
Ken Obesnki is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona who writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com