Kona KTSC Weblog

From the County of Hawaii:
News Release
January 30, 2007

Contact Person: Bruce C. McClure, P.E.
Director, Department of Public Works
(808) 961-8321 Monday – Friday 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m
After Hours: (808) 557-6437
http://www.co.hawaii.hi.us/ Click on Public Works

TWO MORE WEEKS OF TRAFFIC TESTING
FOR HONALO JUNCTION, KAINALIU

County Public Works will extend the traffic mitigation measures at Honalo Junction through Friday, February 16.

Since Monday, January 22, the County has been testing a new traffic flow measure at the Honalo Junction. Between the hours of 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, motorists traveling south on the old Māmalahoa Highway are ONLY able to turn right (down toward Kailua) just prior to the Honalo Junction. Traffic is NOT able to enter the south flow of traffic on Highway 11.

This test is an effort to address traffic issues in mauka Kona during peak afternoon travel hours by reducing traffic along the old Māmalahoa Highway and traffic congestion in South Kona.

“The goal is to pinpoint the area(s) of congestion,” said Bruce McClure, Public Works director. “We are taking a wait and see attitude regarding the testing and our permit actually allows us to keep this test going for up to 90 days.”

So far, McClure said, there have been some encouraging results.

“Motorists who use the route every day have reported a decrease in their commute time ranging from 10 to 25 minutes since we started the test,” said McClure, adding, “on average there are close to 750 cars per hours traveling through Honalo, or 2,057 over a three-hour period.”

Prior to the test, he continued, between 19-26% of motorists used Highway 180 to travel south and merge onto Highway 11. Although this traffic has been diverted onto Highway 11, traffic still continues to move smoother.

This week an additional experimental traffic measure will be tested in Kainaliu. From January 29 through February 2, the diagonal parking in front of Oshima’s store will be closed off. Only parallel parking will be allowed.
Public Works will monitor this situation to see if the parking closure, in addition to the closure of Honalo Junction, allows for a smoother traffic flow. A police officer will be stationed at Oshima’s to insure that only parallel parking occurs.

A comparison of the first and second week will be made by Public Works, said McClure.

“While we anticipate there may be longer lines of cars, we also expect traffic to move smoother and will be measuring the flow of traffic,” he added.

To further facilitate traffic flow in South Kona, new construction hours of 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, will be instituted for roadwork in the Kealakekua and Captain Cook areas.

For 24-hour information about road updates call 334-9559 and for specifics about this project contact Bruce McClure, 961-8321.

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This email was forwarded to KTSC through Harold Murata as a reference to articles and initiatives inline with the organization mission. Comments are welcome.

If you have trouble reading this email, go to the online version.

Traffic Engineering Council UPDATEWinter 2007 E-Newsletter
Volume 13, Issue 1David E. Woosley, P.E. (F), Editor

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