The City and County of Honolulu says that Wilder Avenue and Piʻikoi Street are some of the most dangerous corridors for Oʻahu residents, and plans to repave the streets later this year to promote safety.
Family and friends of a man killed in a hit-and-run in Makiki earlier this year have been pushing for better pedestrian safety in the neighborhood.
Honolulu Police Department responded to a fatal hit and run around 11:35 p.m. on April 9 after an unknown car driving north on Kewalo Street near Wilder Avenue hit 30-year-old Cruz Eddie Ochoa Jr.
The car reportedly drove away without stopping to render aid. HPD declined to comment, citing that the case remains was an open and active investigation.
Ochoa’s mother, Sepe, and his girlfriend, Danielle Cabalis, advocated for measures to protect pedestrian safety at Makiki-Lower Punchbowl-Tantalus neighborhood board meetings in June and July.
Danielle Cabalis told the board that while safety measures can’t bring Ochoa back, they’re hoping to prevent similar collisions in the area.
“I wouldn’t want anything like this to happen to another family,” Sepe Ochoa said in June.
The neighborhood board adopted a resolution on July 16 honoring Ochoa’s memory and calling for the installation of “pedestrian speed humps, flashing pedestrian crossing signals, rapid rectangular flashing beacons (RRFBs), enhanced crosswalk markings, improved lighting, additional speed-limit signage, vegetation trimming, and other traffic-calming measures necessary to slow vehicles, improve visibility, and protect pedestrians.” Resolutions by neighborhood boards are an advocacy tool to advocate for their community and communicate with the city and state, but do not create public policy or direct funds. The resolution echoed a petition started in June and signed by 1,269 people.
Councilmember Scott Nishimoto told Aloha State by email that he “is aware of the community’s concerns regarding street and pedestrian safety in Makiki” and declined to comment further.
Travis Ota, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation Services, told ASD that DTS appreciates the neighborhood board’s support for traffic safety improvements.
“DTS has submitted a work order for additional speed-limit signage along Kewalo Street between Wilder Avenue and Lunalilo Street and is continuing to evaluate roadway lighting in the area,” Ota said.
“Our ongoing evaluation of Kewalo Street has not identified a prevailing speeding issue or a clear crash pattern that would support the installation of speed humps at this time. The street also carries relatively low traffic volumes,” Ota said. A speed hump or raised crosswalk can cost between $30,000 to $100,000, according to Ota.
Making Makiki safer
More than 50 Makiki residents attended a meeting hosted by the Honolulu Safer Streets project at Makiki District Park on Aug. 18.
Crash data analysis conducted as part of the Oʻahu Vision Zero Action Plan in 2023 identified Wilder Avenue, Beretania Street, Young Street, Piʻikoi Street, South King Street, Kapiʻolani Boulevard and Kāheka Street as Oʻahu’s highest injury corridors. Between 2015 to 2022, there were 226 crashes on Wilder Avenue and the mauka side of Piʻikoi Street. Crashes with damages under $3,000 were not reported.
According to Project Manager Mike Packard, of SSFM International, pedestrians, mopeds, bicyclists and motorcycles only made up 43% of total crashes but 92% of serious-injury crashes.
“That’s what makes this so much more important to understand how we are better designing our roads to serve all users,” Packard said at the August meeting.
The goal of the project is to make communities safer for all users, DTS Director Roger Morton said at the meeting. In the near-term, DTS will repave and restripe Wilder Avenue later this year.
Wilder Avenue operates at 61% of its capacity during peak travel hours and upper Piʻikoi utilizes 31% of its capacity during peak hours.
According to Packard, “That excess space unfortunately induces speeding. That speeding makes it more dangerous for all users, but most importantly vulnerable users, so people walking and on bicycles."
DTS noted inaccessible walkways, a lack of bicycle facilities, the lack of left-turn lanes, speeding, long pedestrian crossings, a lack of bus stop amenities and illegal parking along the corridor.
The repaving and restriping effort will remove two lanes of traffic and add left-turn lanes, bicycle facilities and all-day parking on Wilder Avenue. On Piʻikoi, the project will remove one lane of traffic and add curb extensions to shorten street crossings for pedestrians, add a bike lane, stripe in back-in angled parking and remark crosswalks.
Repaving and installing pavement markings will cost approximately $1.7 million for the full extent of Wilder Avenue and $2.5 million for the full extent of Piʻikoi Street, according to Ota. Traffic control plans for Wilder Avenue are awaiting approval and construction is anticipated to start this fall.
The repaving effort will take away 26 parking spaces on Wilder Avenue and create six spots on Piʻikoi Street. According to project officials, there are 281 spots on non-project corridors available.
There have been recent residential additions to Makiki, including the Makiki Banyan, a 30-unit rental that opened to residents in May. The development was built under Bill 7, which relaxes development standards, like minimum off-street parking requirements, and offers financial incentives for affordable rental projects in certain zoning districts.
In the long-term, Packard proposed adding protected bike lanes, new sidewalks, landscaping, bus stop upgrades, concrete bike buffers, protected left-turn lanes and street lighting upgrades on Wilder Avenue and Piʻikoi Street.
Prospect Street resident Adam Strubeck uses the Makiki Community Garden on Keʻeaumoku Street and supports efforts to improve walkability in the area. He said he’d like to see wider and well-maintained sidewalks on Wilder Avenue and raised crosswalks to prevent cars from speeding.
Birthe Lauchengco, a Makiki resident, told ASD that she frequently walks in the neighborhood and didn’t realize how many crashes were occurring in the area.
“I’m glad to know that something’s being done,” she said.
The inclusion of bike paths was a “fantastic” addition, Lauchengco said, telling ASD “I haven’t been biking on this street because there haven’t been bike paths.”
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
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