The fate of a safe pedestrian crossing for the long-anticipated Kihei high school is still undecided as state officials push for a roundabout instead of the overpass or underpass that the community wants.

The state Land Use Commission on Wednesday again deferred a decision on the state Department of Education’s request to pull back a condition of the school project that requires an overpass or underpass be built before the school can open along a stretch of busy Piilani Highway.

A similar request to remove the condition was made before the LUC at its September meeting, but the commission also deferred to get more information and for the community to meet with state officials about the project.

On Wednesday, the Education Department asked that a roundabout with raised at-grade crosswalks and a special traffic control system be built along Piilani Highway in front of the school prior to the school opening. The state Department of Transportation supported a roundabout at the previous meeting.

The DOE said in its filing to the LUC that it wants to build the roundabout before the school opens but would revisit the need for an underpass or overpass “at least four times, two of which must occur within three years of the school’s opening.”

But advocates for the school, the Kihei Community Association and Maui County were not budging Wednesday and said that while they supported a roundabout, they did not want the condition of the overpass or underpass so easily removed. They still believe one is needed and fear for the safety of students and the community that will try to cross Piilani Highway.

Issues with the pedestrian crossing are just one of the hurdles the long-awaited school has faced. The 77-acre campus mauka of the intersection of Piilani Highway and Kulanihakoi Street has been in the works for decades, with opening dates continually pushed back. On Wednesday, DOE officials said the target opening date is 2023.

Even as discussions continue over the crossing, construction of the school is moving ahead. Phase 1, which includes mass grading and infrastructure, is complete, DOE officials said last month. Phase 2 has begun with the installation of the dust fence around the project perimeter, the DOE told The Maui News on Wednesday. Contractor Nordic PCL has also been mobilizing and staging equipment, setting up its office trailer and preparing the site for construction. Construction in this phase incudes administration and classroom buildings, the library, cafeteria, locker rooms, basketball court and a temporary playing field.

At the meeting, commissioners led by Chairman Jonathan Scheuer said they would defer the DOE’s request, pending responses to the questions that the commission submitted Wednesday to the DOE.

The commission wanted to know if the Education Department had already requested funding from the state Legislature for an underpass or overpass and also wanted to see the scope of contract for the studies that concluded that the grade-separated pedestrian crossings were not necessary.

The DOE has pointed in the past to a traffic report and pedestrian study approved by the DOT in 2017 showing that the current conditions warranted a signalized intersection but not an overpass or underpass.

Scheuer added that he was not satisfied with the Education Department’s outreach with the community.

Kihei Community Association President Mike Moran testified Wednesday that the DOE canceled its initial meeting with the association less than half an hour before it was supposed to start. The DOE tried to set up another meeting several days later that was not highly attended because community members had already rearranged their schedules for the first meeting. Moran said the DOE did provide information, including timelines for the project, but did not give a presentation at the meeting.

He added that the association was not prepared to pull back the requirement of an underpass or overpass, though it did support a roundabout.

Andrew Beerer, a longtime community advocate for the project, testified Wednesday that the LUC should not make a decision unless funding is secured for the roundabout. He was also apprehensive about waiving the condition of the underpass or overpass, fearing neither would be built and that the school would just get a standard intersection.

“Please listen to the cries of the community,” Beerer said in written comments. “Through the long process of building this school, we have been derailed, delayed, ignored, shortchanged and scapegoated multiple times.”

He added that as talks go on between transportation and education officials regarding a roundabout, the DOE and the community can work to vet an underpass or other grade-separated pedestrian crossing.

Randall Tanaka, assistant superintendent for DOE’s Office of Facilities and Operations, said the deparment does not have the funds on hand for the roundabout but would seek funds from the Legislature next session, estimating it would cost $8 million to $10 million.

Tanaka implied that it would be tough for the department to ask the Legislature for funding for both a roundabout and a underpass, as the latter could cost upwards of $30 million.

Department of Transportation Deputy Director Ed Sniffen said that if the DOE did not have the funding for the roundabout, his department could use funds from their budget for the roundabout project. The DOT does not support an overapss or an underpass, saying that neither option gets high traffic and that there are flooding issues in the area that could affect an underpass.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.