RESIDENTS living near a famous tourist hotspot are finally set for some relief after years of frustration with an infamous one-way loop that often leaves them trapped for hours.
It comes after a 10-year effort by the community and city that’s led to a parking ban, as well as other measures to reduce congestion.
A popular beach spot has become a nightmare for locals with parked cars and gridlock traffic[/caption]
A 10-year effort by the community and city has now led to a parking ban and other measures to improve congestion[/caption]
The ultimate goal is to reduce congestion and improve access for residents[/caption]
According to Civil Beat, Lanikai, a popular beach neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been facing numerous challenges in recent times due to overwhelming traffic and parking issues caused by visitors.
To address the gridlock, the city has now made plans to ban parking along the one-way loop of Mokulua Drive and restrict parking on nearby side streets during certain hours.
The ultimate goal is to reduce congestion and improve access for residents, who often struggle with blocked roads.
The city’s ‘Lanikai Transportation Management Plan’ was presented to the Kailua Neighborhood Board in a meeting last month.
Tom Cestare, who until a few weeks ago was the Lanikai Association’s longtime president, responded positively to the proposals.
“We didn’t just come to this – our plan – in a twinkling,” he said.
“This is a 10-year observation of what works and what doesn’t work.”
The initiative will see Honolulu ban parking along Lanikai’s one-way loop – in a bid to eliminate the gridlock that occurs when visitors descend on the Kailua beach neighborhood.
Parking will also be prohibited on Lanikai’s side streets between the hours of 10am and 4pm.
The city also plans to improve transportation alternatives, such as adding bus services, installing bike racks and creating dropoff zones near the beach.
It will also widen some side streets to accommodate limited parking.
However, these changes will take years to come in – due to funding requests, planning and construction.
Naturally, local residents support the parking restrictions but emphasize that the issue is not about excluding visitors from enjoying the beach.
Rather, they simply want to reduce the chaos caused by excessive cars without proper parking.
Cestare added: “You can’t get out. You can’t make that appointment. Or how about going to the airport? Good luck.”
However, Jon Nouchi, Deputy Director, Department of Transportation Services, believes the changes need to be made in the right order and believes banning parking along the loop before widening side streets, for example, could result in more cars parking where they’re not supposed to.
He believes the city should make sure the changes don’t “cause any more undue grief or angst.”
“I don’t know that you need to spend all the other money to change the directions of some of the streets and create loading zones,” he said.
He also added that city officials are considering hiring one contractor to do all the work.
“Then we have full control over their resources and can work with the community to make sure we don’t do it at a time that impacts, say, the paddling season or summertime rush,” he said.
Can an HOA ban street parking?
Homeowners associations hold the legal rights to ban parking anywhere – even in a homeowner’s driveway, according to a lawyer.
The trick is the deed homeowners sign when they buy a home within a subdivision, says North Carolina HOA lawyer Mike Hunter.
“If you buy a home in a deed-restricted community, you’re obligated to abide by those restrictions,” he told the Charlotte Observer.
“If the restrictive covenants say you can’t park on the street, the board has the legal duty to enforce that.”
Many states are passing laws to limit the power of HOAs, though a majority of states still grant HOAs to enforce their regulations, restrictive or otherwise, however they see fit.
Read more here.
