After all lanes on Farrington Highway were closed following a fatal crash near the intersection of Milikami Street and Farrington Highway, and traffic continued to back up past Kahe Point last month, Waianae residents sat in traffic for hours. Without a secondary emergency access road open, residents faced yet another overly burdensome commute and dangerous commute.
“It is unacceptable that taxpayers paid to have these roads built, but can’t use them in an emergency that closes all lanes of traffic on the only road in and out of the Leeward Coast. The City Administration needs to come up with solutions to this problem.” Councilmember Pine said.
However, community, City and State officials had planned a Waianae Coast Emergency Access Road (WCEAR), a traffic mitigation tool to be utilized during emergencies when there would be long delays of transit along Farrington Highway. Councilmember Kymberly Marcos Pine, in response, introduced Resolution 15-108, which requests the City Administration to set forth and inform the public on those conditions under which the Waianae Coast Emergency Access Road will be opened and identify and implement improvements to more efficiently open the road during emergencies.
“We the Residents of the Coast need the support on this issue and we hope the parties involved will help us and agree to open and keep these roads to assist us,” said Richard Landford, Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board Member and Chair of the Neighborhood Board’s Transportation Committee.
Councilmember Pine’s Resolution was adopted at the May 6th Council meeting and also calls upon the City to be introducing a resolution calling for the City Administration to develop signage along the route and renegotiate the terms of licenses with private landowners upon whose land the Waianae Coast Emergency Access Road lies, to include the use of the road during peak traffic delays. The recommended deadline for the City to produce this comprehensive plan is July 31, 2015.