Other Nations Send Maui Alternative Ideas for New Kihei Roundabout

The new roundabout currently under construction in Kihei has attracted the attention of officials from other countries, who have sent traffic management ideas to state of Hawaii transportation planners with aim to ease local concerns.

Photos, diagrams, maps, and more have arrived in the past year from a number of countries, said Albert Kaahele, planner in charge for the state Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the new Kihei intersection since it rests on a state highway.

"At first it was kind of weird, since there was already a lot of public input, and even final approval of the design and project," Kaahele said. "But then apparently some Maui satire news site kept publishing fake articles poking fun of the Kihei roundabout, and I guess other countries found us through Google searches, and were concerned for student pedestrian safety."

Transportation planners from countries as far away as India have sent examples of projects to protect pedestrians at the Kihei site while still allowing consistent flow of traffic along the state highway.

"You really need an elevated and protected overpass there for all those students of the new high school," wrote Kabir Kumar of the transportation department for the West Bengal district of India. "So check this out. It's gnarly, looks cool, and it works!"

However, Kaahele noted that it's not easy to get an overpass of any kind approved on Maui, due to a local advocacy group that strongly opposes such transportation improvement and safety concepts.

"Long ago we tried to get an overpass over Hana Highway for the Kahului Airport access road, but this group of people came out of nowhere to complain about it," Kaahele said. "We have reason to believe they will protest any new overpasses on Maui for pedestrians, students, wildlife, monorails, improved air quality, whatevs."

In the meantime, workers continued Monday trying to complete the new roundabout in Kihei, which has tremendously disrupted highway traffic with its weird curving temporary lanes that don't seem to make sense.

Hawaii Department of Transportation officials say that the project, considering that it's being built on Maui, should be completed by around 2025.