Civic Suggestion:
Why Not A West Maui Bike Path?

BY BUCK QUAYLE

The Lahaina master plan provides for one.

Several West Maui groups have expressed an interest in the idea.

The County Planning Dept. likes the idea.

Anyone asked is favorably inclined.

According to Howard Nakamura and Chris Hart of the Planning Dept., there is a backlog of other projects with greater priorities.

But both men said they would welcome a set of Maui bike path plans to work with, if someone with the know-how would draft them.

They would like to see plans for a route that would start from the center of Lahaina and travel to the heart of Kaanapali.

They foresee a six-foot-wide strip of asphalt, or similar material, which would run parallel to Honoapiilani Hwy.

Preferably it would be set back from the highway some 15 or 20 feet and protected from cars by trees. Combined with the Maui bike path might be a pedestrian sidewalk, since none currently connects the two areas.

According to Nakamura, no funds for the Maui bike path project are currently available.

During the past months such groups as the Outdoor Circle and the Lahaina Rotery Club have expressed an interest in a bike path. Spokesmen for the Lahaina Jaycees also have indicated they would like such a path.

With the increasing numbers of cyclers and pedestrians on the road in this area, such a path undoubtedly would be an excellent safety measure, in addition to being a welcome recreational facility.

Maui Bikeway Study Asked

A resolution requesting a feasibility study of bikeways was approved by the Council last week. The resolution was introduced by Councilman Joe Bulgo.

The resolution points out that increasing numbers of persons are using bicycles, that bikeways are being established on Oahu and in many areas of the mainland, and that paths contribute to bicycle safety and decrease use of automobiles.

Cravalho met last week with Keith Kingbay, a bicycle enthusiast for the past 40 years who tours the country promoting cycling activities. Kingbay said that after the meeting that Carvalho appeared enthusiastic with the idea of bikeways on Maui.

During his four-day visit to Maui, Kingbay also talked with students at St. Anthony and Baldwin High Schools and Maui Community College, and with representatives of the Lahaina Rotary Club, who are interested in creation of a West Maui bikeway.

Kingbay,55, recently bicycled 2,600 miles across the United States in 29 1/2 days. He is a former executive with the Schwinn Bicycle Co. in Chicago and now works with the League of American Wheelmen, an association of bicyclists.

Kingbay said major bikeways have been established in many areas including Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Miami and the state of Wisconsin. The state of Oregon, he said, now sets aside one per cent of its gasoline tax revenues for creation of bikeways.

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