BUREAUCRACY BUSTER By
Robbie Dingeman
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Q. I see that Likelike Highway is being repaired. Do you know if the Kane'ohe Bay Drive section from Castle High School to Mokapu Boulevard will be repaired too? It is badly needed.
A. No roadwork is scheduled there in the near future. And part of the reason for the uneven road quality is that different segments of Kane'ohe Bay Drive are under city and state jurisdiction.
City road maintenance chief Larry Leopardi said city-owned segments of the bay drive were resurfaced last in March 2002. "The roadway surface is in generally good condition" from the H-3 intersection (1,100 feet from H-3 on the Kailua side of the overpass) to Mokapu Boulevard; and from Kaimalu Place to Malae Place (Kane'ohe side of H-3), he said.
Leopardi said the portion of Kane'ohe Bay Drive in this area that needs to be resurfaced falls under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Transportation and is within the limits of the H-3 interchange, from Malae Place (on the Kane'ohe side) to 1,100 feet from the H-3 overpass on the Kailua side.
State Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said that Windward stretch of road is not scheduled for resurfacing anytime soon. "We're going to patch potholes," he said, but will be working in other communities after focusing a lot of work, time and money on busier Windward O'ahu roads.
Since 2004, the state DOT has spent more than $100 million on O'ahu highway projects related to repaving, Ishikawa said. "We try to tackle the more well-used ones," he said.
Q. Is it legal for the arrogant drivers traveling kokohead-bound on Kalaniana'ole Highway to U-turn into Maunalua Bay to access Hawai'i Kai Drive instead of waiting for the left-turn signal on the highway? It makes the rest of us wait for still another signal.
A. State transportation crews from the traffic branch went out to check out the situation in that particular area after you wrote. Apparently, it's an etiquette issue not a law-breaker, Ishikawa said.
"Some drivers are turning right into the bay parking and proceeding to turn around in the parking lot to go mauka on Hawai'i Kai Drive," he said. It is legal. "We cannot prohibit drivers from making right turns to enter the bay parking lot, a public area," he said. "Unfortunately, some drivers continue to find ways to get ahead of other drivers waiting in line."
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