SALT LAKE, Hawaii (KHON2) — Community leaders in Salt Lake said they are living next to Oahu’s most dangerous crosswalk in 2024.
Residents hope the City steps up to protect pedestrians after collisions have already left three people in serious condition at one particular intersection in 2024.
Salt Lake’s Neighborhood Board chair felt uneasy after a recent presentation from Honolulu police about the crosswalk on Ala Lilikoi Street. The presentation focused on pedestrian-involved collisions since January.
“And they came up with three,” Salt Lake Neighborhood Board chair David Yomes said, “one on January 10th, one on April 3rd, one on April 6th, which is a 90-day time frame. All on Oahu, you never find that, at least in 2024.”
“So, this is the most dangerous crosswalk in all of Oahu.”
David Yomes, Salt Lake Neighborhood Board chair
Emergency Medical Services confirmed the three collisions, two were men in their 70s and another was a man in his 50s — all were in serious condition.
Area resident and board member Joe Omura was nearby during the incident on Saturday, April 6 and shared a video that shows where the man landed after reportedly entering the crosswalk.
“More than 10 feet away, the guy was lying there, so he got hit, he got flown in the air and he ended up, he was in a crosswalk, he ended up like almost parallel to that telephone pole,” Omura said.
The Salt Lake Neighborhood Board even passed a resolution that asked the City for a left turn signal to be installed on Ala Ilima after a death in 2019 — it is currently a solid green light but pedestrians get the walk signal at the same time if they press the crossing button.
“Yeah, legally you’re correct but they’ll lose every time to a car or vehicle, a truck hitting them. They’ll lose every single time,” Yomes said.
There is a ‘Yeild to Pedestrians’ sign and the Board said City crews evaluated the intersection before, which the City confirmed has happened in 2014, 2019 and 2020.
“And their research said because we don’t have that much traffic, it shouldn’t be a problem. But see, the thing is, it is a problem because judging by results, things are happening. People are getting hurt here,” Omura said.
The Transportation Services Department has not confirmed that any solutions are in the works and said through a statement:
“DTS will continue to monitor this intersection and will update the study for this year.”
Honolulu Department of Transportation Services
Residents are still hopeful that more traffic safety improvements will be put in place before someone else gets hurt, despite past denials from officials.