VIDEO: Kihei Bike Path Opens for Community

By Wendy Osher

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGhXBKYrdg /] Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa became the first to roll out on the new Kihei Bikeway Project today.  The project took about three and a half years to complete and cost an estimated $2.9 million, which includes night time lighting along the path.

“The Kihei Community is truly blessed–and it’s because many of you have made your voices heard,” said Mayor Arakawa during today’s opening and blessing event. “We need to be able to work together, constructively to build a safer healthier community,” he said.

The project, Mayor Arakwa said,  is the start of others that will create a healthier environment for local families around the County.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa is the first to roll out on the new Kihei Bikeway. Photo by Wendy Osher.

“It’s all of these little tools that we have that are constructing the kind of community that we want to have and we want to build toward,” said Mayor Arakawa.

After cutting the maile lei during this morning’s ceremony at the corner of Liloa Drive and Piikea Avenue, Mayor Arakawa rode a borrowed bicycle over the first 50 yards of the bikeway. He was followed by a small group of bike enthusiasts and recreational users.  The path covers a little less than a mile from East Waipuilani Road to East Lipoa Street.

“Let’s build a healthier Maui,” said Mayor Arakawa. “One that we want our children to live in.”

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Walter Enomoto, president of Maui Bicycle Alliance, courtesy photo.

On another note, Walter Enomoto, the president of the Maui Bicycle Alliance, will be the guest speaker at a free talk Thursday, August 4, at 6 p.m. at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS).

Enomoto will present Bicycling Maui, a photo show and discussion about what is going on in the world of bicycling in Hawaii for fun, fitness, families, and commuting.

Enomoto spent 20 years working to improve conditions for Maui cyclists. He served with the Mayor’s Bicycling Advisory Committee helping to revise the Maui County Code for cyclists.

Light refreshments provided by Whole Foods. All ages are welcome to the free event. The HIHWNMS is located at 726 S. Kihei Rd., Kihei. 879-2818 ext. 22.