Former DPP Head Running Controversial Wailupe Valley Project

Dear Editor:        February 19, 2013

Thanks for your coverage of what is occurring in Aina Haina. Taxpayers will be footing the bill for this one, guaranteed.  The soil is not buildable and completely unsafe.

Interesting to note that Mr. Randy Fujiki -former head of DPP- is the running the project for the property owners and rammed it through. I guess we will all pay when the inevitable rocks and land starts sliding during the rainy season.

Chris Cramer

Aina Haina, Oahu

Related: Residences at Aina Haina: Jeff Stone's Plans in Wailupe Valley Opposed

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HB1357 / SB1343 Limit Development to Freeway Capacity

Dear Editor,  February 1, 2013

Commuters on the H-1/H-2 freeway have no idea of how bad traffic will get over the next twenty years.  With 65,000 homes approved for construction in Central and Leeward, freeway traffic will nearly double.  Since there is no way to widen the H-1/H-2 merge, that bottleneck will become immeasurably worse.  All projections are that, even with Rail, traffic will be deep into Level of ‘Service F’, which is defined as "standstill," "gridlock."  

Estimates are that the additional traffic will add between one half hour and one hour to drive time each way.  Many will spend four hours a day in traffic.  This will severely impact family life, workplace productiveness, and the health and well-being of all commuters.  For companies like ours that use vehicles in their business, time is money.  That additional time will force some companies to close; others will pass on their costs causing higher prices at stores and markets.

But there is a way to avoid all of this.  Rep. Rida Cabanilla (Waipahu) and Senator Maile Shimabukuro (Waianae) have submitted House Bill 1357 and Senate Bill 1343 which will require that before new housing projects are begun, the state Department of Transportation must certify to the governor that there is adequate freeway capacity during peak rush hour for commuting to work in the urban center. Adequate rush hour traffic is nationally recognized to be Level of ‘Service D’, interrupted but moving.  Traffic flow would have to be restored to ‘Service D’ before more houses could be added. 

These bills are expected to meet strong opposition from developers and unions as they progress through the legislature. The only hope of their survival is if there is an outpouring of support from commuters and from businesses affected by traffic.

The public needs to realize that this is a golden opportunity to change our future for the better.  The public must get involved.

You can track the bills at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov by typing in HB1357 under "Bill Status." There, you can also send testimony, and find and contact the legislators on the committees that will hear the bills.  You can also find the legislators who represent you, and let them know of your support.  All legislators will vote repeatedly on these bills.

Dean Capelouto

Kapolei, Oahu