Hawaii Island Bike System Advocates Proposal
Presented ToBig Island Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.
President Larry Komata and Coordinator Steve Skipper
Hilo Lagoon Centre
101 Aupuni St., Suite 229A
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
808.933.6996May 5, 2004
Project Name
:
Hilo Bike/Pedestrian Park-Pathway
Proposal Summary BelowClick Here for Entire Proposal in MS-Word Format
Click Here for Proposal Maps#1 Transportation and Road Safety Are Becoming Critical On Hawaii Island.
Hilo has no adequate pedestrian/bike system. Although we have made some good strides forward putting in lanes and beginning some paths, there is no complete, clear, safe system connecting surrounding neighborhoods and villages to our downtown, beaches and parks or to our college campus.
Roadways are choked and dangerous and leave little room for some of the currently proposed bike lanes. To remove parking to accommodate bike lanes, we must replace it somewhere else. This is complex. Right now, bicyclists are led into danger with incomplete bike lanes and shoulders that simply "run out." Many bicycles are riding on sidewalks to avoid getting hit by cars. The sidewalks are too narrow and this makes both cyclists and pedestrians potential victims.
HIBSA's proposed 8 foot wide off-road pathway would have room for pedestrians and bikes. And, by creating a bicycle "hub," it would cause us to look at ways to iron out existing transportation routes both city and island-wide. The result could provide smooth sailing to Hilo's best sites and features such as the gorgeous views in our Hilo Bayfront Parks. The pathway would provide a respite away from traffic and help develop safer bike and pedestrian transportation routes within Hilo and around the island.
#2 Recreation and Economic Enhancement are Proven Results of Recreational Pathways.
Lanesboro, Minnesota
"Boomtown" Hub of the Root River State Trail
Hilo needs low impact economic revitalization. Pedestrian/Bikeways have helped communities achieve this world-wide. They are pleasurable and they are good fun! For instance, we want to provide university students with a reason to stay at our college. We lose university students yearly because it is difficult for students to get off campus and enjoy Hilo without a car. A pedestrian-bike hook-up to the university will give us this added versatility.
Providing tourists with a clear way to get out of their car and see the beauty of our town via walking or bicycling can be a big draw. Many travelers make their destination plans based on the existence of bike and walking paths. Visitors consequently spend more money renting bikes, eating, and buying local products. The paths promote visitors staying overnight too. If the east side of Hawaii could get visitors to stay overnight just one night, it is claimed that our tourist dollars would double. More local small businesses would spring up and job opportunities would increase. Bike paths will increase the chance that tourists will revisit Hilo.
Waiolama Canal in Wailoa State Park
Residents also deserve a safe place to recreate. They should have this bike option as an all-family exercise alternative. Presently, there are few pleasant and safe places to ride with a child, in a group, or even on one's own. Pedestrian-bikeways have been local economic boosters in communities across America because visitors and residents want to get moderate exercise outside, surrounded by natural beauty and away from noisy threatening traffic. Hilo should have this opportunity for its residents and visitors, just as many other successful communities do.
#3 Island-Wide System Needed.
We have the opportunity to implement an island-wide bike-pedestrian system and promote bicycling. We have paths currently started or proposed to the Hilo Warf, along Railroad Ave, in Keaau Village and to Volcano, but none are complete. We need an entire system. We have bike events both on and off road, like mountain biking rallies and the Iron Man Triathlon; yet our public bike facilities are poor. More of these events could be benefiting Hawaii both economically and culturally if our system were in place. Our biking infrastructure is dangerous because it is incomplete and not well maintained. People want to ride bikes for recreation and transportation but it is too problematical and treacherous on the island of Hawaii right now.
This pathway's success at providing a clear alternative transportation route within Hilo could ignite hookups to other paths, creating an island-wide system that has been in the works, as a dream of many, for years. The path will also encourage development of the most needed bike lanes for our roadways. With this pathway we would be creating a solid core from which to expand an entire pedestrian/bike system.
Hilo "core" Map
Liliuokalani Park improvements have shown the Hilo population wants to get out and walk and bike. The walkway is jammed at certain times of the day. Yet our big beautiful Bayfront parks are underused and underappreciated. Bike and walking paths will help people access the most beautiful parts of Hilo away from the rush of traffic. By providing a safe and easy route, we open up access to our community's vast and diverse resources.
Project Description
:We wish to create an asphalt pathway that accommodates both pedestrians and bikes. It will run approximately 3 miles along the Bayfront soccer fields and around Wailoa River State Park.
#A. County-Section.
Travel behind Ben Franklin to Pauahi with a leg back along the Waiolama Canal. The bike pathway would begin behind Ben Franklin. There could be car and bike parking here thereby creating easy access to Downtown Hilo. The path would proceed along the backside of the county soccer fields to Pauahi St., crossing it and joining the state section of the path. However, we want the pathway to also run back along the Waiolama Canal, on the county side, to Kumu St., taking advantage of the beauty of the canal and connecting the system to Kamehameha Ave. bike shoulder lanes.
Sherry, Gerdine, Sandy, and Mary
at the proposed trailhead behind Ben Franklin near Kilauea and Ponahawai Streets
Cross Pauahi St. and bike or walk around the Wailoa Pond. The path would cross Pauahi St. utilizing a pushbutton crosswalk signal, and then enter Wailoa River State Park. There are four possible stages to the Wailoa River State Park part of the path.
One: A pathway from Pauahi St. past the Kamehameha Statue and along the north side of Waiakea Pond, could connect bike and pedestrian traffic up to the Suisan Bridge. Here cyclists or pedestrians may choose to go on to any of the connectors designated at the end of this section.
Waiolama Canal in Wailoa State Park
Two: Follow the Waiolama Canal and Waiakea Pond on the south and west side, below the Hawaii County Building, from Pauahi St., through the park and past the Wailoa Center, the Veterans and Tsunami Memorials, and on all the way to the huge banyan tree on Kilauea Ave., and past the old Green Onion (land owned by Bishop Estate).
Three: It would be ideal to connect the two sides of Wailoa Park by negotiating the Kilauea St., south end of the Waiakea Pond with a bridge-way. The other option involves a mix of sidewalks and roadways to proceed across county and state and Bishop Estate lands, past the banyan tree and Café 100 area. Then the path would reconnect with the Waiakea Pond by following Maile St. for a short distance, and crossing a short strip of land into Waiakea Villas. It is important to connect the two sides of the park to avoid bikes using the curved bridges and to create a flowing pathway.
An asphalt service roadway similar to a bikeway, combined with lawn areas, goes around and through Waiakea Villas, along the Waiakea Pond side of the buildings. It could easily reconnect us to the Wailoa River State Park on the east side of the Waiakea Pond.
Looking acroos Wailoa Pond from Waiakea Villas
The Café 100 area and the Waikea Villas junction, appears to be the most complex part of the plan but we believe it can be worked out. It would be perfect to have the fluidity of this connection. Furthermore, the path's presence would probably enhance business opportunities at Waiakea Villas and all businesses along the way. In the future, crossing Kilauea St. near the big banyan tree would make a terrific straight shot to the university via the flood control channel service roadways; but for now we leave this part of the plan to the university group and choose to connect to UHH via Manono St. on future improved shoulders.
Four: There is an existing asphalt pathway on the east side of the Waiakea Pond in Wailoa River State Park, the side where all the pavilions are. However the asphalt path is very bumpy from tree growth and not wide enough to accommodate pedestrians and bicycles. The state acknowledges their need for a relocated new pathway, but lacks funding at this time to create it. This section would take walkers and riders from the edge of Waiakea Villas, all through this east side of the park, junctioning with and around the Small Boat Harbor adjacent to the Suisan Bridge. From here bikes and walkers may choose pre-existing or planned bike lanes and widened roadway shoulders, going:
a) South, down Manono St. to the University of Hawaii.
b) North, to Liliuokalani Park and the proposed Cruise Ship Path.
c) Or, across the bridge; left and west, to Bayfront Canoe Landing, Kamehameha bike lanes, or the Kamehameha Statue pathway and Downtown Hilo.
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