Gridlock
If you travel west out of Hilo, you’ll notice a big change in the traffic — for the worse.
The modified traffic light signal at Kawailani Street has created the magic of gridlock.
At first, there was a chance it might have been designed to hold back traffic for better flow down the line. Not so.
At 5 p.m. Monday, cars were blocking the intersection of Makaala Street, waiting for the Kawailani Street light 2 miles down the road. They were turning left out of Walmart, blocking traffic in both directions completely.
I’m not looking forward to the new “traffic impediment device” to be located at Shipman Business Park.
No doubt that will back up traffic to a halt all the way into Hilo.
A better job needs to be done timing the light signals for maximum flow of traffic during peak hours.
Michael Xavier Mamczarz
Kurtistown
Apology and warning
I apologize to the person in the no-man’s-land crosswalk Wednesday — the one on Kanoelehua Avenue, between the Ross store and the car dealerships.
I was southbound in the center lane. You were leaving the center meridian, heading into the southbound traffic. The person in the left lane had stopped for you. I thought it was backed up left-turn-lane traffic.
Thank you for being vigilant and not stepping in front of me.
We have flashing lights, for crosswalks in use, downtown, where traffic is at a crawl speed. This is a major six-lane highway with posted 35 mph (and much faster) traffic. Please, Hawaii, before someone is hurt or killed, put an indicator light here.
Motorists, if you are stopping for brave or foolhardy pedestrians, put on your emergency flashers as an extra layer of protection. (Not sure it would have helped in this situation, but have found it productive at the Mountain View post office crossing.)
Let’s look out for each other! Aloha!
Jeff Lux
Volcano
