Closure of Kalia Road proposed for redevelopment of Fort DeRussy in Waikiki

The Army has proposed a long-range plan to close a broad swath of Kalia Road in Waikiki as part of the redevelopment of the Fort DeRussy Complex, igniting concerns that it will cause gridlock and significantly increase bus commute times for workers in the state’s busiest tourism district.

The Army’s future plans could close a section of Kalia Road that it owns between Paoa Place and Saratoga Road and replace it with tree-lined walkways and interpretive trails that enhance the recreational and walking experience. The Fort DeRussy Complex includes the Battery Randolph U.S. Army Museum, the Daniel K. Ino­uye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the Waikiki U.S. Post Office, Fort DeRussy Beach and the Hale Koa hotel, an armed forces recreation center.

According to documents obtained by the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, the city previously pushed back, saying that it opposes the closure of Kalia Road, which is a vital and heavily used connector for TheBus and for traffic entering and exiting Waikiki, which is Oahu’s main hotel and resort district and one of the state’s most densely populated residential neighborhoods.

Army officials say execution of the plan, which will require public input to move forward, isn’t imminent.

U.S. Army spokesman Rick Black said in an email, “U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii previously started discussions with the City of Honolulu in 2017 in relation to potential planning efforts including multiple options regarding the portion of Kalia Road within the boundary of Fort DeRussy. Due to higher Army priorities, the Army did not pursue any formal actions since the initial collaborative discussions.”

The plan has been sidelined. However, the Army already has put some work into the concept, which has not been removed from its roster of potential projects.

Former Mayor Kirk Caldwell received a letter on Feb. 8, 2017, from Army Col. Stephen Dawson notifying him that Fort DeRussy master plans “currently call for the closure of Kalia Road.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii already have conducted a traffic engineering study. The 148-page document, completed in 2017, noted that as the installation’s master development plan is implemented, “the biggest impact will be the closure of Kalia Road.”

A plan of this scope would require a federal funding appropriation, and likely would have to go through the National Environmental Policy Act process to assess the proposed actions’ environmental effects.

That could take years if the controversial Ala Wai Flood Risk Management project is any indication. In the case of the Ala Wai project, USACE conducted public participation and outreach from 2004 to 2015 to meet NEPA requirements and comply with Hawaii environmental policies.

The Ala Wai project didn’t move to the front burner until 2018 when the project was funded for construction. Plans for the Ala Wai project hit a snag in 2021 after the USACE confirmed that costs had nearly doubled to $651 million. Since then, USACE and the City and County of Honolulu have been hosting public meetings as part of a federally funded study aimed at developing a new flood-risk management plan.

Regardless of the current status of the Army’s Fort DeRussy project, the fact that it even exists has some bearing on current discussions over the maintenance of Kalia Road, which needs repaving.

The Army has asked the current city administration to share in Kalia Road’s maintenance costs.

“Recently, the maintenance status of Kalia Road has been a concern for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, and we are looking at the requirements for programming maintenance funding in the near future,” Black said. “In the interim, due to the heavy public vehicular traffic, we recently reached out to city officials to discuss the potential of shared maintenance as part of a more permanent solution.”

Rick Egged, Waikiki Transportation Management Association president and chairman of the board, said the Army has told the city that it could close Kalia Road if it becomes a safety hazard. WTMA is a special improvement transportation district created for Waikiki that consists of a public-private partnership between the city and Waikiki landowners and stakeholders.

“I don’t think the Army is threatening to do that. It’s being done in a much more cooperative way,” Egged said. “Reaching a partnership agreement, though, is not simple. The city cannot spend money on the part of the road that the Army owns. They have to work it out.”

The Army and the city also must come to terms over how the Army’s long-range plans for the redevelopment of Fort DeRussy might affect the current financial investments that they are discussing.

Egged said WTMA supports the city and the Army forming a maintenance partnership for deteriorating Kalia Road.

“I do think it makes sense for the city to work with the Army on the repaving. There’s no question that the city has some responsibility,” he said. “The city buses go on Kalia Road every day, and this part of the road is very important to the city’s transit system. The bus stops are part of the city’s Waikiki circulator plan.”

Egged said, however, that WTMA is opposed to the Army’s long-range Kalia Road closure plan. The Waikiki Improvement Association, where Egged serves as president, also is opposed, he said.

“I don’t believe that the Army could make it work without community support,” he said. “It definitely won’t happen in the short term.”

Waikiki Neighbor Board Chairman Bob Finley said the closure of Kalia Road, even for an interim period, could result in major impacts to Waikiki, especially as the district prepares for the return of parades and other large activities.

Kalia Road connects Ala Moana Boulevard to Saratoga Road and is the only Waikiki route that provides an opportunity to bypass traffic choke points at the Ala Moana Boulevard, Kalakaua Avenue and McCully Street intersections. Thousands of cars traverse Kalia Road daily. Finley said when the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort or the Hale Koa Hotel hold special events, or there is a parade or other large activity in Waikiki, Kalia and Saratoga roads are often used as secondary ingress and egress.

Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said gridlocks could lead to safety issues, especially at times when Waikiki has to evacuate in a short amount of time.

“You are going to put a lot of traffic onto areas that are already well trafficked,” he said.

The city also has said the closure would exacerbate traffic congestion in Waikiki, while severely affecting TheBus. A few years ago the city estimated moving the Kalia Road bus stops would increase operating costs by about $17,500 a day, or $6.4 million annually.

Workers who live outside of Waikiki and bus into the district are expected to face the greatest impact from the Kalia Road closure. A few years ago the city estimated that the Ewa Beach round-trip commute could increase to five hours from three hours a day as a result of longer walk times to get to buses and longer waits for service.

Jackie Cacho, who works as a hotel housekeeper in Waikiki, was among dozens of hotel workers lined up to catch the bus after work Tuesday.

Cacho said she uses the bus daily, and her commute to Waipahu already can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours.

“It would be hard for us if they moved the bus stops,” she said. “Housekeeping is a hard labor. We are tired. We don’t want to walk more or wait more. I would like to keep the bus stops.”

Marites Torres, another Waikiki housekeeper, agreed.

“It would really impact us if we had to take the other bus by the post office and walk longer. It’s too tiring,” she said, adding that her one-way commute to Waipahu typically ranges from an hour to an hour and a half.

The city estimated several years ago that closing Kalia Road, without an alternate replacement roadway, would create gridlock by shifting some 500 to 700 vehicles per hour, including approximately 20 to 25 bus trips, onto an already congested section of Ala Moana Boulevard that does not have the capacity to accommodate the increased traffic volume.

If the Army advances its Kalia Road closure plan, Vi­eira said organizations like the Hawaii Tourism &Lodging Association, Retail Merchants of Hawaii and labor unions need to be invited to join the discussion.

“I don’t think the Army has the right to close Kalia Road regardless of actual ownership. I mean, if Fort DeRussy had something to do with national security, it would be a different story; however, it’s purely recreational,” he said. “But it’s never wrong to have a discussion about how we can make things more beautiful.”

Caldwell’s administration had asked the Army to consider amending its plan to allow bus- and bike-only lanes or raised bike lanes. It’s not clear how that would affect the Army’s longer-term vision of creating more green space in its recreational complex, which is a popular Waikiki attraction.

Amina Williams, a visitor from Santa Barbara, Calif., enjoyed watching her 17- month-old son, Elias, run across the park between the Hale Koa Hotel and the U.S. Army Museum on Tuesday.

“It’s beautiful here,” Williams said. “I’m for whatever will make this place the most enjoyable place.”