Has anyone been following all the articles about traffic lately?

Legislature decides traffic a big issue.
Possible tax increase for mass transit (400+ million)
Possible loan for the super farie (40 million)
Driver exam for 75+ to renew license
Putting the traffic cams for speeder back on the road
Putting red light traffic cams at intersections
Zip lane extension with on ramp for Aiea/Pearl City drivers
New H-1 entrance near Ewa Beach area

Yet with all these no one seems to be mentioning the true problem for traffic is the inability of people to drive correctly, or the fact that speed limits out here seem to be purely random instead of based on any driving safety reality. 45 on H-3??

I am sure I have missed a few things they have talked about, but does anyone think the stuff they are planning is really going to help traffic?

Mass transit won't help if it isn't convienent (and judgeing from how the bus and road systems are I don't think they can do it)

Why just driver exams for 75+. Why not make it required for all those bad drivers out there. (Multiple tickets, causing accidents etc..)

Didn't they try the speeder cameras before?

Red light running has seem to gotten much worse lately, or maybe I have just been looking for it more.

And for the Zip lane and new on ramp I don't drive around there much at all so I have no idea about them.

 

Yesterday I read they are going to spend 200,000 on checking the fesability of building a underwater tunnel from Ewa to Sand Island.

And today (didn't read yet, just saw the title) starting a conference to study solution for the traffic problems.

 

Gotta love how much money they spend to study a lot of feasability issues but never implement

 

It took my 28 minutes to go two miles this morning. Fort Weaver Road sucks!

 

yep, fort weaver road sucks. once i'm at work in ewa beach, i pretty much stay down there all day. now i do sometimes get the urge to voyage over to kapolei, but i take the barbers point cut-thru to avoid that mess further up fort weaver road. but one time i did get caught, only once so far.

for the most part that's pretty much why i only eat at the nearby spots down ewa beach side. oh yeah, and the fact that there's no good eating spots in ewa anyways. that ocean pointe shopping center has good stuff. my fave is fiesta's for mexican, fairly authentic. japanese, has got saito's across the mcdonald's.

whoops, wrong thread to be talking about food...

anyways, ewa-ewa beach definitely needs another major road to get to the freeway. even kapolei is getting bad traffic, especially during lunch, which is when i'm usually there.

 

Okay just went over the "Transportation Summit: Is There Hope On The Horizon For The Counties Or Are We Just Stuck In Gridlock?" Article. (Yes that is the name)

Things of interest
Congress decides what transportation projects to fund for the next 6 years
Oahu Metro Planning Org updates plan for next 25 years (most likely its stick head in the sand and hope it blows over )
Possible 1% excise tax increase strickly for traffic solutions
Rail System
Intra-island commuter ferry
Waikiki "people mover" transit (what is this?)
New Tunnels
New Bridges
Improved Bikeways, walkways, and roads

 

I agree (about the traffic and Fiesta's)! I heard that the north-south road in Ewa may become a reality. In fact, I think they broke ground for it.

 

If your talking about the one the will eventually lead to H-1, then they will soon start on it. Article said they would finish in 2 years or so. The delay atm is they have to transplant some plants that are native to Hawaii before they can start digging up the road.

 

Yeah, that's the one. There was a bit about it in the west Oahu thing in the paper last Wednesday. That's good, though, that they have to ensure that the plants aren't going to be wiped out. On the mainland, no one cares about that. They just dig and spread asphalt all over everything!!

 

Well more traffic news today.

A law just came out of commitee that if passed will suspend the license of anyone under 21 caught with alcohol, not just if they are driving while intoxicated. Thier license will be suspended until they are 21.

If they don't have a license then they will be unable to get one for 90 days or until they turn 18 whichever is longer.

They are saying if they are drinking already then they probable aren't ready to have a license even if they aren't driving.

 

Possible weight tax increase of upto 50%

That should move MINI owners from ~65 to around $90 if this comes to pass.

 

--Here, here, and while we're on that subject has anyone noticed how people have no idea how to merge here? They all just get on the on-ramp and tailgate eachother and hope that a six car train will be able to squeeze into rush hour traffic. Hello! Put a little space in front and in back and people are more likely to let you in.

--Don't even get me started about rain in Hawaii. People's I.Q. seem to drop a good 50 points when it sprinkles. No accident, not even a car pulled over or broken down. It's drizzling so suddenly we're doin 25mph on the H1. ARGH!!!

--More than anything else I'm afraid of the little old ladies with the 300hp Lexus's their sons bought them. Scary! Remember that old lady that totalled a dozen cars in the King Street parking lot and finally ended up on top of another car? That was nutz!

K-nuff ranting.

--pyratio