The Hawaii Department of Transportation is currently resurfacing Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard between the Kalihi Stream Bridge and Atkinson Drive. Exhibits with adjustments to the corridor in support of safety can be found here. Please use this discussion to leave your comments on the upcoming changes.
This Discussion channel is currently closed.
Discussion:
Ala Moana Nimitz Corridor
Topic:
General
Please leave general comments on the improvements for the Ala Moana Nimitz corridor here.
5 Responses
Kathleen Rooney almost 3 years ago
One of the questions asked during the online meeting was "What else can be done to improve pedestrian safety on this corridor?" The materials provided make it difficult to answer this questions and then also to know if HDOT's planned improvements maximize the pedestrian safety options. It would've been great to see more options in the resurfacing designs to show the tradeoffs between modes. What does a design that prioritizes pedestrians over automobile travel look like? What does one that maximizes transit access and transit speed look like? Can gaps in the bike network be filled? Why can't the slip lanes be removed at all/most intersections? Is it because the design is impossible - or just that it slows down traffic? HDOT has been using raised crosswalks in other areas of the city - why not in this corridor? There are a whole host of questions that really can't be answered by the community with these materials and I would encourage HDOT to explore sharing this type of evaluation information with each project. In addition, I would have also liked to have seen more quick build-style approaches - testing out designs to test out safety designs more real-time. I'm sure that it seems impossible to take out a vehicle lane for a protected bike facility, but given lowered daily travel during COVID and the reduction of peak congestion times, this could be a prime time to test out some non-permanent options. In addition, although the CV technology is great, it seems problematic that only auto travel is being monitored unless you download the app. Many new monitoring systems and sensors include the full suite of multimodal travel w/o having to opt into an app. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Shelly Kunishige admin almost 3 years ago
Thank you for taking the time to make suggestions. I will share them with staff and will get back to you on what can be adopted.
Lori McCarney almost 3 years ago
I agree with Kathleen that active consideration of how to include safer biking/walking solutions seems lacking, at least in looking at the materials provided. I understand there are constraints on what might be possible in this corridor because of freight traffic, but perhaps there are ways to address that. The Oahu Bike Plan shows bike lanes on Ala Moana Blvd in this corridor, but I can't find them in here. And the new Walk/Bikeway needs access more thoroughly considered, with that project perhaps providing an impetus for improving safe connectivity for walkers and bicyclists. Collaboration between the City, State, and others with an overarching goal to vastly improve the safe walking and biking in this area would provide a much needed context for the improvements HDOT is undertaking. The Hawaii Bicycling League is ready to help in outreach, communications, or whatever is needed to assist.
Wayson Kobelansky almost 3 years ago
I personally feel that the ultimate goal should be to have protected bike paths and pedestrians walkways away from automobile traffic if you ever want to achieve a totally safe environment for bicyclist and pedestrians. How did we ever get to the mindset that bicyclist and pedestrian want to share the same roads with automobiles. Is it just because we don’t have the space or monetary resources to develop a network of separate bike paths and pedestrian walkways.
Yamato Sasaki almost 3 years ago
The way the changes are proposed, it is difficult to know what issues are being addressed and HDOT's priorities. I understand HDOT's priority may be on moving freight and not on increasing pedestrian and bicycling comfort or connectivity along the roadway. However, it would be immensely beneficial if HDOT could prioritize the ped/bike network so that when there is no lower volume parallel option, or when there's a gap in the network such as across an intersection, that HDOT prioritizes the network above vehicle travel time.