Smiles back, but not everywhere
Isn’t it wonderful to see smiles again? As we shed our masks outdoors and community activities return, the aloha spirit is on full display. The warmth Maui is known for was harder to detect behind masks and visors. We all tried learning to smile with our eyes, but only so much warmth can be conveyed that way, especially from a distance of 6 feet.
A genuine smile requires no guesswork. Whether it is a quick grin from a passing stranger or a bright flash of teeth and joy from an old friend, it makes the world a happier place to be. Smiles convey friendship, community, shared humanity and many other things, including, “hey, look at us, we both survived a global pandemic!”
Some of the biggest smiles we’ve seen lately have been on the faces of athletes and coaches back at practice and looking forward to a return to competition. No doubt Maui Swap Meet vendors, organizers and shoppers shared a few grins last Saturday on their first day back at UH-Maui after a 15-month COVID-19 break. Restaurant and shop owners lucky enough to be open and to have enough employees to cover every shift must be smiling too.
One area where smiles turned to frowns this week is South Maui where the state permanently lowered the speed limit on a long section of Piilani Highway to 35 mph. Traffic on the area’s main traffic artery generally moves in the 50-to60 range. Driving 35 mph on the four-lane highway is going to feel like standing still, which should prepare South Maui motorists for what’s to come: really standing still.
In a story that ran in this newspaper last December, state Department of Transportation Deputy Director for Highways Ed Sniffen said the development of the Kihei high school and housing projects on the mauka side of Piilani changes how the highway is viewed by the DOT. He said Piilani’s future speed limit would be 35 mph. He also said he could see a day when raised crosswalks are installed in “danger areas.”
Having four schools within a mile of each other is sure to cause congestion on weekday mornings and afternoons, he said. Studies conducted by the DOT predict the high school will serve as a traffic tipping point.
“We measure it (traffic flow) in levels of service,” Sniffen said. “‘A’ means free flow. If you get ‘C,’ that is stop and start. ‘E’ is gridlock. Our studies show this school will cause a level of ‘D’ in the next 20 years.”
There’s not much to smile about gridlock. At the very least, the county and state should commit to completing Liloa Drive before the high school opens. Finishing Kihei’s stalled northsouth collector road won’t change the speed limit on Piilani Highway, or make getting used to its new two-lane roundabout any easier, but it would go a long way toward mitigating the overload on Piilani and South Kihei Road.