STAND. COM. REP. NO 166

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 769

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 769 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the Director of Transportation to conduct a study examining the feasibility of establishing a fifth lane of travel on the ocean side of Farrington Highway in Nanakuli from Kahe Point to Mohihi Street, to be used for contraflow during rush hour and requiring relocation of the existing railroad;

     (2)  Require the Director of Transportation to report to the Legislature prior to the 2016 Regular Session on findings and recommendations of the feasibility study; and

     (3)  Make an appropriation to the Department of Transportation to conduct the study.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Hydroponics Alternatives LLC, and four individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiian Railway Society, Historic Hawaii Foundation, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the ocean side of Farrington Highway in Nanakuli from Kahe Point to Mohihi Street is congested at most times of the day and at rush hour can result in gridlock, which poses a public safety hazard as well as an inconvenience to commuters.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adding language to require the Director of Transportation to include in conducting the feasibility study alternatives to establishing a fifth lane of travel in Nanakuli from Kahe Point to Mohihi Street;

     (2)  Increasing the appropriation amount to $500,000; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 769, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 769, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair