Have you seen these cones on Waialae Avenue lately? This week the City and County of Honolulu is conducting a study to see how a bike lane would affect traffic.
A long section of Waialae Avenue in the town-bound direction has three lanes. Within this area, a lane is blocked off, leaving two lanes for drivers.
Some people are grumbling about the traffic disruption. I believe we should look at the bigger picture and see how bike lanes will benefit Kaimuki and the surrounding neighborhoods.
In Palolo Valley there are a lot of people who are (choose one or more):
- Being green
- Getting exercise
- Saving money
- by riding their bikes regularly.
Here's a photo of a rider heading down Palolo Avenue. There's less motor vehicle traffic here and bicyclists can get into and out of the valley with less anxiety. Once you get to Waialae Avenue it's a different story.
My wife and I recently rode our bikes from Palolo Valley to the City Mill store in Kaimuki. Riding down Palolo Avenue wasn't bad, but once we got to Waialae Avenue we rode on the sidewalk! It's against the law to ride a bike on a sidewalk in Honolulu, however we'd rather risk a traffic ticket than getting run over by a car.
Result - we got some shopping done, fit exercise into our schedule, didn't burn gas and spent some quality time together.
We should do this more often! Adding bike lanes to Honolulu's city streets will allow more people to safely commute and get other things done. More bikes on the road = less cars on the road.
Think about it and please support bike lanes. How many of us are too fit and couldn't use some more exercise?
Click here to sign the Waialae Avenue Bike Lane Petition
Aloha, Mike
Michael Bates (RA)
i Properties Hawaii
1585 Ala Moana Blvd. #1533
Honolulu, HI 96814
Comments(4)