Baldwin Ave. bicycle path: Would it be built for two?

The Maui News
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer

WAILUKU - The county is moving ahead with plans for a "separate and parallel" Baldwin Avenue bike path with a request for land acquisition funds by Mayor Charmaine Tavares.

Tavares' budget proposal includes $500,000 to buy land for the project, a request supported by downhill bicycle tour operators but opposed by the local cycling community. Maui Bicycle Alliance President Walter Enomoto said the path would mainly serve the tour industry and would sap funds from projects for local recreational riders.

"As a transportation corridor, I kind of question the benefit of that project, compared to something like the North Shore Greenway that would connect Kahului to Paia," he said.

The project would make Baldwin Avenue safer, said Public Works Director Milton Arakawa.

"Baldwin Avenue right now doesn't have any provisions for bike riders," he said. "There's no shoulders on both sides of the road. It's basically to accommodate the riders."

The county previously appropriated $500,000 for project design, and plans are still being completed, Arakawa said. The land that would be purchased for the path hasn't yet been identified, and the project timeline isn't set.

"These are still the preliminary steps," he said.

Rich Goodenough, owner of Maui Downhill, said bicycle tours would use the path, but supported the project for the whole community.

Existing conditions on Baldwin Avenue are unsafe for any bikes, he said, because there are no shoulders where riders can pull over to let cars pass. Some riders move off the road to get out of traffic, but they're endangered by rocks, holes and trash that can be hidden in the tall grass.

"This would be a great improvement for the community to use their bicycles safely, and also for the tours to be segregated from the downbound traffic," he said. "That would solve a lot of problems."

All but two tour operators have stopped riding down Baldwin Avenue because of the dangerous conditions, Goodenough said.

"The rest of the industry looks at it as a major safety hazard," he said.

The Baldwin Avenue bike path was included in Bike Plan Hawaii, a priority list of projects proposed by the islands' cycling community. But it was proposed only for the addition of marked bike lanes to the road, a less expensive project, Enomoto said.

The plan was changed to a separate bike path running parallel to the road after residents objected that the earlier plan would require cutting down the shower trees along the shoulder.

Enomoto said other bikeway projects that have been on plans longer and would be used by more recreational cyclists include major projects like the Kihei and North Shore greenways that would also be used by walkers, joggers, skateboarders and other users.

"Why can't we complete what we started first?" he asked.

Budget proposals for the Baldwin bike path estimate the project will require an additional $2.7 million in county bonds and $5.6 million in federal funds for land and construction costs.

"A project like this, where it takes all the funding, where is that going to leave the local cycling community?" Enomoto said.

The Maui County Council is reviewing Tavares' proposals for the 2007-08 county budget, and has until the end of May to approve a spending plan.