Bill Text: HI HR149 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Transportation, Mayor Of The City And County Of Honolulu, And Honolulu City Council To Reroute Farrington Highway In Accordance With The 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-03-31 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR149 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2021-HR149-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
149 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
Urging the Department of Transportation, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Honolulu City Council to reroute Farrington Highway in accordance with the 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan.
WHEREAS, Makaha Beach Park used to be the home of sand dunes, which were relocated to provide sand to Kaiser, Sand Island, and other beach parks in Honolulu; and
WHEREAS, international surfing champions from Makaha Beach Park include Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana, the "Queen of Makaha" Rell Sunn, Sunny Garcia, Rusty Keaulana, Duane DeSoto, and many others; and
WHEREAS, Makaha Beach Park on Oahu's leeward coast is a favorite spot for locals and visitors, and is home to iconic surfing competitions including Buffalo's Big Board Surfing Classic, Rell Sunn's Menehune Surf Meet, Bradah Mel's Waterman's Championships, and Keiki Surf Kontest, among many others; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation annually lists Makaha Beach Park as one of the top-ten most visited parks on Oahu; and
WHEREAS, Farrington Highway parallels the shoreline and splits Makaha Beach Park into two halves, with the beach on the makai side of the highway and restrooms, showers, a parking lot, and a canoe hale on the mauka side of the highway; and
WHEREAS, because the beach park is bisected by Farrington Highway, it creates unsafe conditions where beachgoers, particularly small children, frequently have to cross the busy highway to get to the beach; and
WHEREAS, the close proximity of Farrington Highway to the shoreline has resulted in serious damage to the highway from storms and waves; and
WHEREAS, in 1983, strong waves eroded a portion of Farrington Highway, which cased the Department of Transportation and the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation to request a shore protection study from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Engineer Corps); and
WHEREAS, in 1985, the Engineer Corps concluded that Farrington Highway should be realigned further inland and away from the shoreline to protect the highway from future wave damage; and
WHEREAS, subsequent to the study and recommendations from the Engineer Corps, the City and County of Honolulu acquired additional park properties mauka of Farrington Highway to expand the beach park and lobbied the State to fund the relocation of the highway further inland, which the State was unable to fund; and
WHEREAS, in 1998 the City and County of Honolulu developed a master plan for Makaha Beach Park that proposed to reroute Farrington Highway further inland and away from the beach, as well as expanding the beach park with new picnic areas, fields, and restroom facilities; and
WHEREAS, the 1998 Makaha Beach Park master plan was never executed due to a lack of funds; and
WHEREAS, at the urging of area residents, former City Councilmember Kymberly Pine asked the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization to authorize a feasibility study for the potential mauka route realignment of Farrington Highway at Makaha Beach, which the organization unanimously approved; and
WHEREAS, despite the approval for the feasibility study, the study was never executed due to a lack of funds; and
WHEREAS, beach erosion at Makaha Beach Park caused by rising sea levels and runoff from Farrington Highway has led to approval of emergency permits and measures by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, including partnering with private heavy equipment operators and machine owners to move sand from the east end to the west end of the beach, to prevent further erosion; and
WHEREAS, in 2010 the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands commissioned a study which concluded that erosion at Makaha Beach Park poses a serious safety concern and, like in the 1985 Engineer Corps study, recommended that Farrington Highway be realigned further inland to mitigate beach erosion; and
WHEREAS, the urgency to repair the Makaha Bridge has been a public safety concern for Waianae residents for many years; and
WHEREAS, Farrington Highway is the only transportation route to travel south in the Makaha area; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation Highways Division has proposed to replace two existing wooden bridges along Farrington Highway, Route 93, between milepost marker numbers 13.95 and 14.21 in Makaha on the Waianae Coast of Oahu; and
WHEREAS, Makaha Bridge No. 3 and Makaha Bridge No. 3A were constructed in 1927 and currently support two eleven-foot lanes with a two-foot shoulder on the makai side of the bridge and a one-foot shoulder on the mauka side; and
WHEREAS, both bridges have been classified by the Department of Transportation as deficient and require replacement; and
WHEREAS, to meet existing roadway design requirements, the proposed project will require additional areas beyond the existing right-of-way to accommodate the increased bridge spans and structures necessary for embankment protection, channel widening, and guardrail improvements; and
WHEREAS, the proposed wider right-of-way will affect lands on the mauka and makai sides adjacent to the project site; and
WHEREAS, the Waianae community believes placing the project's temporary bypass road on the makai side of Farrington Highway will cut off and strand residents and tourists west of the project, should the five-year flood level standard temporary roads be washed to sea by inland flooding or ocean surge; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation will begin preparations for the replacement of the Makaha Bridge No. 3 and 3A on March 8, 2021, starting with clearing the area makai of the existing bridge to prepare for installation of a temporary bypass; and
WHEREAS, because of this imminent construction, the issues raised by the Waianae community about the location of the temporary bypass are more pressing than ever; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Transportation, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Honolulu City Council are urged to reroute Farrington Highway in accordance with the 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Governor, Director of Transportation, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Chairperson of the Honolulu City Council, Executive Director of Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Chairperson of the Waianae Neighborhood Board.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Farrington Highway; Bypass Project; 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan
