STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2605

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2226

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2226 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRAFFIC REGULATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize each county to adopt ordinances to regulate or restrict access to certain streets, highways, thoroughfares, or roads.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council, one member of the Maui County Council, one member of the Kauaʻi County Council, and Hawaii State Association of Counties.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that the increased utilization of certain streets, highways, thoroughfares, and roadways, and their surrounding areas, has resulted in an influx of traffic that exceeds their original design capacity, thereby endangering both travelers and the culturally significant and environmentally sensitive sites that they traverse. Many of these roadways were not originally constructed to meet rigorous safety standards and therefore lack the necessary infrastructure now required for unregulated use, and due to this increased traffic, counties are unable to wholly mitigate the inherent risks posed by their non-standard designs. Recognizing this issue, your Committees believe that the counties should be empowered to establish access limits to safeguard these fragile sites.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Limiting the regulations or restrictions to motor vehicle access only; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2226, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2226, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Culture and the Arts and Water and Land,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair