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Honolulu should be a great place to go for a walk. The weather is mild, the roads aren’t too steep and it’s a great workout. It’s also free and environmentally friendly. But in many parts of the city, especially in urban areas, the car rules.
Narrow, unshaded sidewalks, on which hardly two people can walk side by side, sit close to spacious, multi-lane thoroughfares dedicated to fast-moving cars that emit carbon monoxide. Pedestrian crossings and intersections are particularly dangerous; they experience many traffic-related pedestrian injuries and deaths. Ever larger vehicles on the streets – those oversized trucks and SUVs – combined with an aging population can reduce the likelihood that a pedestrian will survive a collision.
So it’s encouraging to see the draft Oahu Pedestrian Plan released last week as part of the city’s efforts to improve conditions for hikers on Oahu. The map takes a detailed look at Honolulu’s pedestrian infrastructure, including maps and lists showing which streets have safety concerns and where improvements are being considered.
There are also plenty of ideas to make the city more accessible to pedestrians. Smooth, wide walkways shaded by trees would make walking to school, work, or business more pleasant. Safer crosswalks and intersections would ease the anxiety of the kupuna trying to get through traffic.
Of course, any really ambitious plan to improve conditions for hikers will challenge the tyranny of our driving culture. Wider sidewalks mean narrower streets. Concepts such as bulb-outs, traffic bumps, turn restrictions, lower speed limits and red light cameras would force drivers to drive more slowly and more carefully.
So some setbacks can be expected. Howls of protest welcomed the installation of bulb-outs in Chinatown – simple curb extensions that widened sidewalks and reduced the distance to cross the street.
Skepticism was also met with the state’s plan to install red light cameras at intersections in the city of Honolulu, a pilot program that is slated to begin shortly.
But the benefits might be worth it. There were 10 traffic-related pedestrian deaths in Hawaii between January 1 and June 23 this year, including nine in Oahu. And the numbers over the past few years have not been encouraging. 44 pedestrians died nationwide in 2018; 37 in 2019; and 21 in 2020 (when traffic was lower due to the pandemic). Reducing these numbers should be a top public policy goal.
The public can view the plan at www.honolulu.gov/completestreets/pedplan.html and email comments to [email protected] by August 6.
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