Hoopili and Transportation Woes
The issue dominated Thursday hearings in front of the state Land Use Commission — commissioners will decide in the coming months whether to allow the development to proceed.
Department of Transportation Highways Administrator Alvin Takeshita, testified that the department was working with D.R. Horton, the project developer, to mitigate the impacts. The developer has also promised to build and pay for a second lane to accommodate extra traffic where the H1 and H2 highways merge.
His remarks in support of the project contrast with written testimony submitted from the DOT in 2008 that expressed more serious concerns with the traffic impacts. (Read Civil Beat’s previous coverage on the state’s change in position on Hoopili since Gov. Neil Abercrombie became governor here.)
According to Brennon Morioka, who was the director of transportation under former governor Linda Lingle, there was a “significant concern:”
The DOT has significant concern with the proposed Hoopili development of nearly 12,000 dwelling units in an area where the existing transportation system is already experiencing significant peak hour congestion and infrastructure constraints. The communities in the Ewa region are already voicing concerns with current congestion along Fort Weaver Road and at the Kunia Interchange. This project along with other major developments proposed in the region will further exacerbate congestion in the surrounding transportation system if not mitigated.
The DOT said that the Traffic Impact Assessment Report submitted in 2008 was “not acceptable.”
Intervenors in hearings on Thursday who oppose the project argued that Horton’s plans to build a new lane on the highway was also inadequate for handling traffic problems.
The state argued the opposite Thursday — that it is sufficient.
There’s no current timeline on when the lane will be built if Hoopili proceeds.
