"Everyone Talks About The Traffic But No One Does Anything About It" Mark Twain

Last Sunday the low rider pick up truck club circled the Island and traffic got backed up all over the North Shore. Last Saturday it was the women's surf contest at Sunset. Traffic is going to increase on the North Shore no matter what.

What are we going to do other than blame greedy, capitalists?

Despite litigation, the most likely scenario is that the U.S. Army as part of the plan to accommodate the Stryker Brigade, is going to build a road from generally Schofield/Wahiawa to the Turtle Bay area so military vehicles can bypass public roads - mainly Kamehameha Hwy.

People of the North Shore, we should do everything we can to have the road built to have public access on it, even if it is on a limited basis.

Traffic - On the weekends the road between Haleiwa and Waimea is frequently grid locked. There is no way to get rid of that traffic. This road would provide a means to bypass Kam Hwy between Punaluu and Haleiwa. There is nothing else that can be done to help move things along along other than build a road that gets people off of Kam Hwy or else make Kam Hwy a 4 lane road - nobody wants that and it is not practical.

Safety - Currently there is one way out of the North Shore up to Haleiwa and through the entire windward side. When a traffic accident happens, brush fire, landslide, a broken water main, etc. that forces a road closure, both public traffic and emergency vehicles have to literally go around the island - a two hour trip. There needs to be an additional egress and access road that enables evacuation. There is also a very strong likelihood that Kahuku Hospital could fail. If that were the case, someone that is in distress would have a 40 to possible 90 minute drive to Wahiawa Hospital under current conditions. Double it if the ambulance has to get here from there. With an mini "H-4" road drive time to Wahiawa would be about 15 - 20 minutes and that would save lives. The grid locked traffic on Kam Hwy in also impeding lifeguards, police and fire depts... from being able to get to emergencies.

The Environment - hundreds if not thousands of idling cars on a weekend that back up from Haleiwa past Shark's Cove are not environmentally friendly. Also the added mileage that people from the North Shore - Kahuku, Laie, Hauula to get to their jobs, run errands, etc. is wasteful and expensive.

The Feds - This is a federal project. Senators Akaka and Inouye and Congressman Hirono and Abercrombie need to get this going. Also, it would also need the support of Linda Lingle, Mufi Hannemann and local legislator Donavan De La Cruz and Michael Magouay.

The Mormons - The community of Laie needs to get behind it - for the same safety, traffic and environmental reasons as above, but also for the economic interests of enabling their church members to get to work more efficiently and enabling visitors to BYUH and the Polynesian Cultural Center easier access. *

Everyone but Sunset - The Kahuku, Hauula, Punaluu Community needs to be behind it - this enables the people of Kahuku much easier access to amenities, safety and economic benefits of being able to reasonably commute to work outside of the North Shore. The Sunset Beach Community will probably never be behind anything that requires more than a shovel to be used. It would be historical to get them to support anything.

Copy the Keep the North Shore Country and Defend Oahu Coalition Methods - They have done an amazing job of getting their concerns heard by the Media. First send letters to the editor regarding the road. Then get The Advertiser to do a major article on it (at this point TV and radio cover it) and then get The Advertiser to do an editorial either for or against the idea. From that point forward all coverage they have either supports of negates the "idea". We need the Paper's support, and some key radio personalities for it.

This is a HUGE benefit for the North Shore. - It helps the North Shore save time, gas and money. - It protects us in case of accidents and emergencies. - It is the only way we can get traffic off of Kam Hwy.

CAN ANYONE HELP GET THIS DONE?