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| On-street parking near Iolani Palace. Will more bike lanes take away our parking spaces? |
Honolulu City Charter Amendment No. 8 will put on-street parking in jeopardy. As stated on the ballot for this coming Tuesday's election, Charter Amendment No. 8 states:
"Should one of the priorities of the Department of Transportation Services be to make Honolulu a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly city, and should the powers, duties, and functions of the Director of Transportation Services include bikeway systems?"
Sounds nice and eco friendly yes. Who hates increased pedestrian and bicycle access? Supposed to be good huh? Not if the access takes away on-street parking that motorists, residents and businesses rely on.
Examples of on-street parking taken away in lieu of creating greater pedestrian or bicycle access can be found in a block long segment of Young Street near the Honolulu Academy of Arts Linekona Building. There used to be two sides of on-street parking. A few years ago Mayor Jeremy Harris had the parking spaces removed to create not one but two lanes of bikeways. A whole row of parking spaces were eliminated for the makai bike path. Parking on the mauka side was reduced to accommodate another bike lane.
Hardly anyone uses the bike lanes and motorists now have a harder time finding on-street parking in that area.
Another example is the infamous Ala Wai beautification project. Many parking spaces along the mauka side of the Ala Wai which residents and visitors to Waikiki depended on were taken away and reduced in great numbers. In place is a new bikeway and several palm tree islands. Where is a motorist to park?
Many years ago, motorists could park along Kalakaua Ave. Not anymore. The roadway was reduced from 4 or 5 lanes down to the present 3 lanes near the beach in the name of beautification and pedestrian access. Great for pedestrians, bad for motorists who get caught in gridlock, especially when a lane is taken up by idle busses or delivery trucks. Next thing you know the city will want to take away another lane to put in a bike path.
This kind of sweeping mandate should never be made into part of our City Charter. Good planning demands that amenities like bike lanes and increased pedestrian access be incorporated on a case by case basis and never at the expense of on-street public parking for motorists. Think about this the next time you are driving around in circles looking for a parking space.
Vote "No" on Charter Amendment No. 8.
This article appears on my blog at:
http://macprohawaii.blogspot.com/2006/11/vote-no-on-charter-amendment-8.html
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