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During rush hour, Waiehu Beach Road is clogged. There is no escaping gridlock, not on Waiehu Beach Road, not on Kahekili Highway, and not down winding Maka'ala Drive, past the elementary school and through the Waiehu Terrace neighborhood.
Maka'ala Drive intersects with Waiehu Beach Road. Maybe you suggest they go through Happy Valley and then drive down Mill Street? Start at Takamiya Market yourself some weekday, school day morning at 7 a.m. Now try turning left onto Mill Street. Be patient. Lots of traffic. Done that? Okay, now turn right onto Central, another two-lane street. Wait through three lights before you reach Main Street, and if you turn left to go into Kahului, blocks later you will finally access Ka'ahumanu Avenue, built for this kind of traffic.
Permitting housing for hundreds of new residents along Kahekili Highway on this ag land is a mistake. There is no doubt that Maui needs to drastically increase housing for our workers as well as the homeless. Why choose an area lacking infrastructure, and prone to flooding?
Consider land that already has infrastructure in the form of adequate roads. For instance, consider land along Maui Veterans Highway. Workforce housing can and should be built there, where workers can fan out easily to workplaces all over the island.
Don't our workers and homeless need housing that will enable them to access their workplaces and services more easily?
Kathleen Kastles
Waiehu