How to improve downtown Hilo?

Friday afternoon marked the final of three public sessions to review suggestions for a master plan aimed at promoting beautification and improved access to Hilo’s downtown.

Once all public input has been considered, representatives with the Downtown Hilo Multimodal Master Plan team will formulate a draft plan to be presented to the public, perhaps in three or four months, said project manager Cheryl Soon, an employee with engineering firm SSFM International Inc.

Turnout for the series of three-hour “Zoom In Zoom Out” sessions, the previous two of which were held on July 20 and Aug. 14, was heavy, Soon said.

“It was especially busy for the second session on parking and transit,” she said.

Friday’s session covered 10 categories of street improvements, with maps displaying the downtown area from Wailuku Drive on the north end to Ponahawai Street to the south, and extending mauka from Hilo Bay to Kapiolani Street.

Subjects included recommended street types, placement of gateway areas, inclusion of various multi-use trails, bicycle facilities, curb extensions, tree and mini park placements, pedestrian features including covered walkways and wayfinding stations providing directions to various points of interest, access for disabled pedestrians, and more.

After a presentation of the draft plans by Alan Fujimori, an SSFM senior planner, attendees of the work session broke out into three separate groups and shared input on each of the subject categories as facilitators asked questions and noted their recommendations and concerns.

Also up for discussion were three detailed sketches provided by the engineers to show the various recommended features as they would appear along Kamehameha Avenue, at the intersection of Kamehameha and Ponahawai Street, and at the intersection of Keawe and Mamo streets.

Earlier this month, attendees went through the same process as they discussed parking and transit solutions for downtown Hilo. The presentation included a description of recommended changes to the location, quantity and management of on-street and off-street parking. Part of the parking solution included remote parking connected to points of interest by a transit shuttle system.

Among the comments made during that session, participants displayed a general concern about how much parking was right for Hilo, according to a session recap.

The first Zoom In Zoom Out session in July focused on road circulation and bicycle facilities. That session included discussion on the idea of converting the downtown area’s one-way streets back to two-way circulation. They also looked at the inclusion of roundabouts and intersection improvements, roadway extensions, and reconfiguring roadway cross-sections and dedicated bike facilities.

More information, including recaps of each of the sessions, can be found at hawaiicountycompletestreets.com.

Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaii tribune-herald.com.