Save Kauai brings together current information about Kauai and web-based tools that allow you to take action. If we want to affect the future of Kauai in a pono way we must organize and begin implementing solutions, not just fighting the problems.
Aloha 'Aina, Imua Kakou!
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=7522093
Crews Replace Aging Bridges on Garden Isle
Updated: Dec 19, 2007 06:50 PM
By Stephanie Lum
KAUAI (KHNL) -- A major thoroughfare is closed off, forcing Garden Isle residents and visitors to a take a round about way just to get to the other side.
Drivers were stuck in traffic.
Some students even stayed home from school Wednesday because of a 24-hour closure of Kuhio Highway on Kauai's north shore.
And, it's all so that construction crews can replace two aging bridges.
An unusually noisy morning in a usually quiet area of Kauai.
And drviers weren't getting anywhere.
"It's a bummer but I guess it has to happen," one driver said.
The replacement of Wainiha Bridges one and three started early Wednesday morning.
To replace decades old wooden ones with new bridges made out of steel.
"Four beams will go on and then the decking will go out on top," said engineer Tom Binder.
To build the massive structures, the state implemented a 24-hour closure of Kuhio Highway.
"I think it's an adventure, at least they're letting us get across," another commuter said.
And people traveling on foot, took a short boat ride to get to the other side.
Transportation Deparment spokesman Scott Ishikawa says construction is going as scheduled and Kuhio Highway will re-open at 8 Thursday morning.
And the public will be able to enjoy a pair of brand new bridges.
Pilot traffic project ‘successful’
Speed tables curb racing on Weke Road
by Nathan Eagle - THE GARDEN ISLAND
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HANALEI — A pilot program to purge dangerous driving on Weke Road should be made permanent, North Shore residents and county officials said last week.
Five speed tables and a three-way stop have reduced overall speeding and put an end to drivers racing at 70 mph on the narrow half-mile street, Hanalei resident Richard Parks told the County Council during its Dec. 12 meeting at the Historic County Building.
The “traffic calming devices” have solved a problem that community members said threatened their children’s lives, but the county needs an ordinance to make the test project a lasting fix, County Engineer Donald Fujimoto said.
The Law currently only allows residents to petition for speed bumps on “feeder roads,” Councilman Tim Bynum said.
Weke Road rims the southeast side of Hanalei Bay, running parallel to county parks and popular beaches. With posted 20 mph speed limit signs, it is a “collector road” designed as an evacuation route.
A county study shows emergency response time increased from 42 to 135 seconds after the speed tables were installed more than a year ago, but the county attorney’s office said it should not be a liability concern because the measure is aimed at making the area safer for citizens.
The Public Works Department prefers that the ordinance permit traffic calming devices on collector roads on a case-by-case basis, county Engineering Chief Wally Kobo said.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771129032...
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Written on: Thursday, November 29, 2007
A budding Mainland luxury hotel management company has purchased 122 acres at Princeville Resort on Kaua'i for potential future development of the site once home to the historic Hanalei Plantation hotel.
An affiliate of Las Vegas-based Montage Hotels & Resorts bought the undeveloped land for an undisclosed price in a transaction completed Monday, according to Resort owner Princeville Associates, led by local developer Jeff Stone.
Montage said it has no immediate plans or timetable for developing the property, which includes the Kamo'omaika'i fishpond and is adjacent to Hanalei Bay and the Hanalei River on Kaua'i's North Shore.
"We eventually intend to build a wonderful and appropriate Montage Resort at Hanalei, one that the entire community will be welcomed to enjoy and be proud of," Alan Fuerstman, Montage founder and CEO, said in a statement.
The property sale comes nearly three years after Stone and a Morgan Stanley real estate fund with Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors bought 9,000 acres of Princeville Resort, including two golf courses and the 252-room Princeville Hotel, from three Japanese companies.
The group bought the largely undeveloped Hanalei resort community intending to add one or two more name-brand hotels, homes, employee housing and other improvements over a decade.
Volunteers wanted to help plan and implement. Contact Makana Bacon at 828-1900.
