Categorized | Opinions

Stene: Saddle Road improvements save time

(Reader Opinions Disclaimer: This column allows members of the community to share their opinions and views, which do not necessarily reflect those of Hawaii 24/7, its staff, sponsors or anyone other than the writer. Hawaii 24/7 reserves the right to refuse any column deemed to be misinformation, of an unethical nature, a personal attack, or a blatant commercial pitch.)

By Aaron Stene | Special to Hawaii 24/7

The Central Federal Lands Highway Division and state Department of Transportation, among others, should be commended for their efforts to improve Saddle Road.

The recently opened segment between mile marker 41 and m.m. 51.27, along with the previous phases (m.m. 11 and m.m. 41), is a huge improvement over the old Saddle Road.

The roadway was riddled with potholes and serious design
deficiencies, which caused an immeasurable number of accidents and fatalities.

In addition, the realignment and reconstruction of Saddle Road to a full fledged highway has resulted in a huge savings in commute times.

I was able to drive between m.m. 6 (top of Puainako Extension) and m.m. 51.27 on the Kona side in 56 minutes. My overall time savings was about 26 minutes, so I can’t wait until the last east side Saddle Road phase is complete.

That will reduce commute times even more.

I know there are challenges acquiring the right of way for the final
SR200(3) phase.

However, I’m confident these challenges will be overcome. It is imperative that Sen. Dan Inouye’s legacy project is
finished.

Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast