Wailua Bike Path Meeting

SOURCE: Ken Taylor (taylork021@hawaii.rr.com) SUBHEAD: Message sent out concerning the results of the meeting about the Wailua bike path alignment. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Last night’s showing to protect Sacred Wailua was magnificent. At least 60 members of the community watched the Path presentation then poured their hearts out to the designers and managers of the project. Though the crowd had to request that genuine time be allotted for community input, rather than the standard on Kaua’i; “Oops, sorry, but it’s 9:00, thanks for coming.”

image above: Wailua Beach viewed from the east using GoogleEarth.

Photo by Dennis Fujimoto in http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/01/19/news/kauai_news

The Path people listened graciously to what they surely didn’t want to hear: that, even though it’s “officially” too late for this, the Wailua part of the plan is seriously flawed by not taking enough into account the cultural, spiritual, visual and recreational realities of Wailua Beach. Apparently, the community thinks it’s never too late, despite cost and inconvenience, to do the right thing -- basically, to put the path mauka of the beach. Though the Path people (O’ahu designers, Kaua’i managers), truthfully, maintain that no matter what they come up with, there will be criticism and complaints, there was too much powerful sentiment last night to ignore. And by evening’s end (eleven o’clock), after the forum peetered out to more of a pow-wow, and Path people obligingly heard every last word, there was a sense of true communication. As it often is here, there’s no dislike or animosity, and essentially we all want what’s best.....we just have to work it out. And that willingness to try, the generosity of both giving and accepting mana’o, is a real strength of our island. This is not to say the Path won’t go in exactly as the diagrams intend, but there will be another community meeting, the community is tighter, and the facts, including the spiritual ones (if there’s such a thing as a spiritual fact), are on the table. If the Path were to proceed as planned, it would be against the wishes of the people. Of all the testimony, there were only two in support. So thank you, again, from the sands under Wailua Bay to the waters atop Ale Ale, for not just your presence and testimony at the meeting, (or for wishing you could be there but couldn’t), but for the deeper reasons why you care. see also:

Ea O Ka Aina: Wailua Bike Path Route 7/21/09