Project Description
Safe walking and biking to school in Kilauea
Following up on a community -driven Safe Routes to School Action Plan developed in 2018 through partnership between Kīlauea School, Get Fit Kaua‘i, and the County, and traffic resolutions approved by County Council in February 2019, changes to Kamalii Street and Kahe Street are being installed. The following changes are intended to make it safer for children who live in the neighborhood to walk or bike to school:
- Kamali’i Street will be one-way from Momi Street to Kahe Street.
- Kamali’i Street will remain two-way between Kahe Street and Kīlauea School
- Vehicular pick up and drop off is prohibited at the back of Kīlauea School at the end of Kamali’i Street.
- Vehicular pick up and drop off is only permitted at the front of the school along Kolo Road.
- 30 minute parking is being provided on Kahe Street from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm to allow for drivers to park and students to walk to and from the school entrance at the end of Kamali’i Street.
- Turns on to Kahe Street from Lili‘uokalani Street will be prohibited from 7:00 am to 8:30 am and from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
“Kaua‘i’s Safe Routes to School program is very important to us, and we are grateful for our partnership with the community, Department of Education, and Get Fit Kaua‘i to make these changes happen. The model of community-driven change in Kīlauea, where the community comes up with its own solutions and the County supports, is one we hope can be replicated for other schools on Kaua‘i,” noted Mayor Derek Kawakami.
“Safety of our students is our highest priority,” said Sherry Gonsalves, Principal of Kīlauea School. “We are fortunate to have a community that supports changes to our streets for the benefit of our keiki.”
“Walking or biking to school is a great way for kids to get physical activity, which also improves academic performance,” noted Bev Brody, Director of Get Fit Kaua‘i. If we are able to reduce the barriers so that more students are able to walk or bike to school, it would also reduce our traffic congestion around schools.”
Being part of Get Fit Kauai’s Kilauea SRTS Action group has been very rewarding. I live on a street in Kilauea whose residents are willing to sacrifice convenience for child safety. It’s Kamali`i Street, where Safe Routes to School has proposed switching us to one-way to make it safer for children walking, skating or biking to Kilauea School and their families. It has been a model of community consensus that gives a ray of hope in a public policy landscape that sometimes seems forbidding.