Safeway has eliminated a gas station from its planned supermarket on Kapahulu Avenue in response to community concerns that a discount gas outlet would create a jam of vehicles on the busy street.

The change in plans comes at a time of sharp gas price increases in Hawai'i linked to the state's newly implemented wholesale gasoline price cap. The average price at the pump for a gallon of regular hit $3.09 on Oahu yesterday, and could reach $3.60 a gallon or more next week after the price cap undergoes its weekly adjustment.

But Kapahulu residents had been more concerned about further congesting the neighborhood's mauka-makai thoroughfare. The area neighborhood board last month voted to support the supermarket but not the gas station.

Safeway said it responded to that feedback by excluding the station from its plan for a roughly 66,000-square-foot store at 870 Kapahulu Ave. across from the intersection of 'Olu Street.

"I think Safeway bent over backwards seeing that large community concerns were taken care of," said Karen Ah Mai, chairwoman of the Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board. "They didn't have to."

Ah Mai said Safeway also is looking into providing some community meeting space on its property, and added wider sidewalks and more inviting small retail space along Kapahulu between the supermarket and its parking lot to make the property more pedestrian friendly.

"I think the community will be very happy," she said. "It's not going to satisfy everybody, but I think it will please the great majority of residents."

A recent neighborhood board survey with 239 respondents showed that 67 percent supported the Safeway supermarket, while 22 percent were opposed and 11 percent had no opinion. The survey did not address Safeway's proposed gas station.

The gas station would have been Safeway's first in the state. California-based Safeway has made gas stations a standard for all new stores, and concluded that it could keep motorist lines from blocking its parking lot or Kapahulu Avenue.

Safeway initially announced its idea last year to expand to the neighborhood it identified as under-served by a major supermarket, and since has been studying plans and seeking community input. The closest grocery store is a Foodland at the corner of Kapahulu Avenue and Kapi'olani Boulevard.

Safeway said construction of the new store could start early next year.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.