Improvements are coming to a portion of Lanikaula Street in Hilo.
At Tuesday’s County Council Finance Committee meeting, Department of Public Works Deputy Director Malia Kekai said DPW is pursuing a road rehabilitation project for a roughly 1,700-foot stretch of Lanikaula between Kilauea Avenue and Manono Street.
The project would be funded by about $1.2 million in county funds and another $5 million in federal grants, Kekai said.
While the committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council approve the funding, some members were disappointed the project is not integrating aspects of the county’s “Complete Streets” program, which envisions roads being safely usable for all modes of transportation, including walking and biking.
However, Kekai said, the nature of the funding means the county does not have the flexibility to add improvements such as bike lanes or sidewalks, which don’t exist along that stretch of road.
“This particular pot of money is just rehab money — that’s, basically, we take what’s there and put it back nicer,” Kekai said. “We don’t get to make improvements.”
Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder also cautioned about the potential traffic impacts of the project, noting that repaving and restriping projects on Kilauea Avenue have actually caused greater traffic delays by reducing the amount of usable pavement.
“Although being just one block, we’re extremely limited in Hilo for roadway size. We can’t get much bigger without taking people’s property away,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said, urging DPW to be mindful of how future improvement projects will affect traffic long-term.
“We’re growing, and there’s not a lot of room there.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.