Hawaii-2018-HCR92-Introduced

WHEREAS, pedestrian safety and walkable neighborhoods are priorities for Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii averages 28 pedestrian fatalities each year and 560 pedestrian injuries from being struck by motorists, giving Hawaii the fourth highest pedestrian fatality rate, per capita, in the United States, and the majority of fatalities occurred because pedestrians did not cross at intersections; and

WHEREAS, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006, 42 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred on roads without proper crosswalks; and

WHEREAS, the students at Hauula Elementary School and Kaaawa Elementary School are in need of a crosswalk to ensure their safety when they are walking to the bus stop or to their homes; and

WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Oahu had five million visitors in 2016, and a large number of these visitors travel to North Shore tourist hotspots including Laniakea Beach, Haleiwa Town, and Laie; and

WHEREAS, people who visit Laniakea Beach, Haleiwa Town, and Laie often jaywalk across Kamehameha Highway and other busy roads due to the lack of crosswalks, which disrupts traffic and puts everyone at risk; and

WHEREAS, traffic on Kamehameha Highway is often backed up for three miles, all the way to Haleiwa Town, because of the visitors at Laniakea Beach, especially on the weekends or holidays; and

WHEREAS, the seven-mile commute along Kamehameha Highway near Laniakea Beach Park now often takes over 45 minutes, and traffic along the North Shore's main artery has been getting worse for years; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu are urged to construct crosswalks for pedestrian safety on Kamehameha Highway at the following five locations:

(1) Laniakea Beach;

(2) Haleiwa Town;

(3) Laie, across from Pounders Beach Park;

(4) Kaaawa Elementary School; and

(5) Hauula Elementary School; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation, Mayor and Director of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu, Castle-Kahuku Complex Area Superintendent, and Chief of Police of the Honolulu Police Department.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Crosswalks; Pedestrian Safety

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	92
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII