KAHALU'U — A state proposal to contraflow a segment of Kahekili Highway from Kane'ohe to Kahalu'u is facing opposition from some residents who fear it could mean an end to the area's rural lifestyle, even as others welcome the possibility of traffic relief.

The plan is to add a shoulder lane along the highway between Ha'iku Road and Hui Iwa Street for a morning and evening contraflow, addressing a bottleneck that develops as the Kahekili shrinks from six to two lanes for a short stretch.

The state is now asking for public input, and state Department of Transportation director Rod Haraga is scheduled to explain the proposed project at the next Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board meeting.

'Ahuimanu resident Barbara Choy said the community has needed the extra contraflow lane for years. Choy, who is now retired, said she had to leave home earlier and earlier over the years to get to her Honolulu job.

First, she was leaving at 7 a.m. to get to town by 7:30 a.m. but that eventually became 6:15 a.m.

"It was only that stretch from here to Likelike (Highway)," she said. "That was the slow part, bumper-to-bumper, single file."

But widening the highway for contraflow is a threat to the area's country lifestyle, said Richard Vermeesch, who commutes to Honolulu every day during peak traffic.

Vermeesch, a Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board member, disputes the claims of long waits in traffic on the highway and said the state should try other options.

"When I've clocked it, it may take six minutes more as opposed to a wide-open road," he said, adding that a wider road would increase traffic speed. "I'm totally willing to be a little more patient and sit the additional five to six minutes in that traffic on Kahekili in order to basically keep the country 'country,' to keep the high-speed traffic from tearing through our part of the world."

Vermeesch said other options, such as a roundabout and additional turning lanes, would make traffic flow smoother.

Kahekili stretches from Likelike Highway and ends where it links to Kamehameha Highway, about three miles away. At Likelike, it is six lanes wide and soon turns into a two-lane country road from Ha'iku Road to East Hui Iwa Street, where many of the drivers leave the highway for homes in subdivisions on both sides of the highway. It's that stretch from Ha'iku to East Hui Iwa that has drivers wishing for more lanes.

So far, the Legislature has allocated money for a planning study, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman.

"It's nowhere near design and construction," he said. "It's not even planning."

Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), said he requested $300,000 so the DOT could look at solutions — including contraflow, which is also called a reversible third lane. The money is for planning and design, he said.

Hee said he doesn't believe that Windward area's rural character would be at risk because of contraflow. People had similar fears about the H-3 freeway but that never materialized, Hee said.

"I don't frankly believe that if you add a third lane between Ha'iku Road and Hui Iwa that that's the segue for large-scale development," he said. "I think that's really over-simplifying it and overly dramatic, because if development was going to take place it would have happened with the completion of H-3."

State Rep. Colleen Meyer, R-47th (Ha'iku, Kahalu'u, La'ie), said her 'Ahuimanu constituents asked for contraflow during the campaign and that while she doesn't think it is safe, she would not oppose it.

She's been sending out questionnaires about contraflow and other issues. While the sampling has been small, Meyer said people seem to be supporting widening of Kahekili for a contraflow lane.

Of the 70 who have returned the questionnaire, 52 — or 74 percent — back contraflow, she said. Meyer added that because of a limited postage budget for her office she could only send out a few questionnaires at a time and will be sending out more in October.

"I represent 20,000 registered voters ... and if they think something has got to be done I'm not going to stand in the way of it," Meyer said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.