State Moves Initiatives Forward Despite Legislative Inaction

This week, Governor Lingle released $1,006,700 to prepare and process an environmental assessment and obtain consultant services for the Middle Street Merge widening project on the H-1 Freeway.

This project is in addition to the $1.8 billion public infrastructure construction plan unveiled by Governor Lingle in December 2008 to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

"The Department of Transportation remains committed to moving forwarding with key projects that will save motorists time and money," said Governor Lingle. "Once completed, this project will relieve congestion at one of O`ahu's most notorious traffic bottlenecks and reduce commute times significantly."

Currently, cars exiting the Middle Street tunnel must merge onto the H-1, which creates an extreme bottleneck as cars traveling eastbound on the H-1 slow down to allow the incoming traffic.

This project will increase traffic capacity through the Middle Street merge and Vineyard Boulevard by adding a fourth continuous lane, eliminating the need to merge. The additional lane will also add a second exit lane to the Vineyard Street off-ramp.

Also this week, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) moved forward with other alternatives to invest in Hawai`i's natural and cultural resources as part of the Recreational Renaissance plan.

The Recreational Renaissance plan had no budget implications and would have added over $100 million in "shovel-ready" construction projects to repair our state parks, trails and small boat harbors.  An agreement announced this week between the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), National Park Service and the County of Hawai`i maintains its momentum through the cooperative management of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, a signature project of the plan.

This shoreline trail corridor traverses Hawai`i island from `Upolu Point, along the island's western shoreline through the Kohala, Kona, Ka`u and Puna districts and terminating at the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park's Puna boundary.

It crosses federal, state, county, and private land and contains sensitive Hawaiian cultural and natural resources.  It is unique to the National Trail System in that the indigenous Hawaiian culture constructed portions of the proposed trail corridors in stone that are still widely used for daily coastal access, recreational, traditional and cultural purposes.

"This memorandum of understanding between DLNR, the National Park Service and Hawai`i County represents an important step to strengthen inter-agency partnerships and work with the community, to support recreational and educational opportunities and ensure appropriate use and historic preservation objectives," said Laura H. Thielen, Land Board Chairperson.

"Although the Senate did not pass the Recreational Renaissance bill, or any of the capital improvement projects that would have been funded with new, non-taxpayer revenue, we're all encouraged and inspired by the strong support of the many recreational groups and communities who supported Senate Bill 636.

"DLNR intends to move forward with the broad public support to maintain these important recreational places.  We are now busily working on our 'Plan B' to attempt to achieve as many of these objectives as we are able to do with limited resources," Thielen continued.

As part of the MOU, participating agencies have agreed to work together to implement the trail's Comprehensive Management Plan, which NPS adopted in March of this year.  The MOU sets the stage for programmatic agreements and administrative guidelines to manage the trail's resources. 

• "Fix the highways, quit ripping off special funds," Pacific Business News, May 22, 2009
• Learn more about the Administration's Highways Modernization and Recreational Renaissance plans.