North Shore Parking Sign Problem
Written by Sabrina Hall -
shall@kgmb9.com
Sunday, January 27, 2008 07:48 PM
Parking is tight on the North Shore and residents said the problem just got worse.
The state has put up no parking signs for safety reasons, but that move has outraged many.
The area in is on Kamehameha Highway from Velzyland all the way past Eukai Beach.
KGMB9 spent Sunday afternoon on the North Shore and talked to many people who were very upset about the "no parking" signs. Even people who wanted them up in the first place.
The problem? They said the state went way too far.
Driving down Kamehameha Highway there is one "no parking" sign after the other. We counted 34 of them in a one mile stretch and just on the makai side of the highway.
"It's just new a way to waste our taxpayers money and a new way to fine us… so they can make more money in the government… it's pretty hideous," said Tamayo Perry, a Sunset Beach resident.
And he is one of dozens of residents who want the signs gone as soon as possible.
"When surf is up there is no parking and people tend to park on the side of the road where we could park. Now they can't park anywhere," said North Shore surfer Scott Quizon.
The state put the signs up last week, it said, after years of complaints from residents about the dangers off getting onto Kamemeha Highway.
Sara Ackerman said she has almost gotten into a head on collision.
"I have experienced that the cars are all lined up out far enough where you can't see either way to pull out," said Ackerman, a Ke Nui Road resident.
To help drivers see more clearly when they are pulling onto Kamehameha Highway, Councilman Donavan Dela Cruz asked the state to put signs up near the intersections of the highway.
"From the driveway probably like 20 feet… that would do," Quizon said.
And the city councilman said that was the plan.
Community associations wanted signs put up to keeps parked cars 15 to 20 feet away from intersections.
Instead, he said, the state went overboard, lining the highway with signs to the dismay of many in the community.
"They're basically are making our North Shore very ugly... On top of that it is just going to create a gridlock of traffic, so all the people who are complaining a reverese effect are creating something that is going to be worse… there is going to be people parking in their yards and all kinds of chaos," Perry said.
And the Department of Transportation spokesman said state crews will be checking up on those signs this comming week, but didn't say whether the state would consider taking any of them down.
