Ask the Mayor: Could Traffic Lights Be Coordinated?

Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the questions submitted to his staff.

Q: Is there any way to coordinate the traffic lights at more intersections?

For example, as you cross Dairy Road headed north on Pu‘unēnē where it drops into one lane, it’s often backed up, as the light at Papa will go red and force quite a clog of traffic.

Also driving through the Azeka Place area on South Kīhei Road, one often has to stop at several stoplights to get from MacDonalds to Līpoa.

If the lights could be coordinated so that a driver traveling at 35 mph could go through on the green, it would save much time and fuel.

A: Fortunately we have a project that is aimed at upgrading our traffic signals, which should
help the situation. For example, old traffic signals use underground metal detectors to
recognize vehicles but newer vehicles don’t have enough metal and aren’t detected. That’s just
one of the challenges with these outdated signals. We are asking our Maui County Council
members to approve funds so we can upgrade a total of 35 traffic signals in Central Maui.
Unfortunately the two intersections you mentioned are not on that list. Puunene Avenue and
Dairy Road is a state responsibility and South Kihei Road and Lipoa Street is not one of the
intersections on our traffic signal upgrade list.

Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa at [email protected], (808) 270-7855 or mail them to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column. Mr. Mayor,