HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

184

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

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, 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, in 2016, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu presented a proclamation to honor surfing legend Buffalo Keaulana by naming the rerouting of Farrington Highway around Makaha Beach "Buffalo's Way"; and

 

     WHEREAS, Buffalo Keaulana opposed the bypass road plans for Farrington Highway to be realigned makai of the existing road, claiming that it would have detrimental effects on Makaha Beach for beachgoers and marine life, as construction debris from the bypass project would likely end up in the ocean; and

 

     WHEREAS, the only viable and feasible option for the safety and wellbeing of the people and effective use of land in the Waianae community is to build Farrington Highway mauka of where it currently stands, which would also follow the 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Makaha Beach Park Master Plan calls for the rerouting of Farrington Highway to go behind Makaha Beach State Park and route back onto the existing portion of Farrington Highway on the north side of the canoe shed; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the Senate concurring, 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 Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Chairperson of the Honolulu City Council.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Farrington Highway; Bypass Project; 1998 Makaha Beach Park Master Plan