Malaekahana Bike Path

Biking and walking along the Ko’olau Loa coast to go to school, work, or visit family and friends will soon become easier and safer. A 7,400-foot path linking Lā‘ie and Kahuku is planned for the Ko‘olau Loa region mauka (mountainside) of Kamehameha Highway in Malaekahana.

The land is owned by Hawaii Reserves, Inc. (HRI). Pending permit approvals, the groundbreaking will be by summer’s end.
As part of Envision Lā‘ie, a community planning process for Lā‘ie, workshop participants expressed support for a network of bike paths and sidewalks connecting destinations within the community and keeping cars off the road. Lā‘ie is already pedestrian and bike-oriented.

“Our quality of life is getting a great boost with the Malaekahana bike path,” said Pane Meatoga, Lā‘ie Community Association president. “This Envision Lā‘ie project is an investment in our community’s safety and wellness, and it can help ease transportation concerns.”

The meandering path, nearly a mile and a half long, will be about 15 feet from the highway. It will run between the Kahawainui and Malaekahana bridges. The 8-foot-wide path is a collaboration between HRI, the Lā‘ie Community Association (LCA) and community residents. HRI will provide the land and materials; LCA, residents and local businesses will provide labor.

To see more on the project, check out the story in Kaleo or KHON.

Download the entire press release here.

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A Balanced Look at Ko’olau Loa

On the last day before it transformed into the new Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ran an editorial outlining some of the challenges facing Ko’olau Loa, including Jobs/Economy, Education, Affordable Housing, Water/Natural Resources and Disaster Preparedness. These are the very same issues that have been studied and discussed during the Envision Lā’ie process over the last year. In fact, the editorial’s assessment of affordable housing was mirrored by the many comments in a housing video posted recently to the Envision Lā’ie YouTube Channel:

With shrinking availability of housing and the increasing number of second homes and vacation rentals in Koolauloa, many families have been forced to move out of state, while other who wish to stay in their hometowns and remain closer to family and loved ones struggle to find housing in the Koolauloa area.

Nothing emphasizes the challenges of affordable housing more than these facts quoted in the editorial:

Estimated median household income in 2008 was $63,702.
Estimated median house or condo value in 2008 was $570,964.

This data was sourced by City-Data.com and its summary of summary of Lā’ie includes a number of interesting tidbits, from the racial mix in the community to cost-of-living index.

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Lā‘ie Recycle Story in Advertiser

The Honolulu Advertiser has taken notice of the efforts of Hawaii Reserves, Inc., Brigham Young University–Hawaii and The Polynesian Cultural Center to recycle waste vegetable oil and process it into biodisel for HRI’s equipment and soap for BYU–Hawaii Food Services.

Daniel Scott, a biochemistry and chemistry professor at BYUH, said the research project took recycling to a different level and taught students the value of resources such as waste oil.

Scott said the goal was to produce a soap that smelled good, moisturized the hands and provided antibacterial protection. They settled on a foaming liquid hand soap.

He said he’s seen a comparable soap on the Internet for $45 a liter. “We can make a liter of soap for about $2,” Scott said. “I can’t imagine it costing them more them $4 a liter.”

The soap is used by BYUH food services, including in the dining hall.

Several students worked as paid researchers on the project, including Misheel Batsaikhan, a senior in biochemistry. Her first task was to make the soap with nice fragrances and color, Batsaikhan said. A series of trials had poor results including unpleasant colors and a watery product, she said.

Probably the worst experience she had with the project was when she tried to short-cut a procedure to siphon soap from a large container into a smaller one. She ended up swallowing a mouthful of soap.

“It was really gross,” Batsaikhan said. “It smells nice and it’s good soap, but swallowing is not recommended.”

She said this is the best job she has had.

“I never thought any research would be so much fun,” Batsaikhan said. “I just feel like I’m an artist.”

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