Near the end of a hike to Papakōlea Beach, better known as Green Sand Beach, there’s this old sign. I think it reads, ‘Welcome to Mahana Bay green sand beach. Please do not take the sand. There is only so much and if everybody that came here takes it, well! soon there will be none. Thank you.’
What I liked was that the only parts that could reasonably be read were, ‘Welcome’ and ‘Thank you.’ The rest I had to decipher with the help of Photoshop when I got home.
Recently, these two new speed limit signs appeared, alongside the main road, not far from where I live. Nothing too remarkable about that, you may say, but it is odd. The first sign gives the speed limit as 45 miles per hour, but the second sign mandates a minimum speed of 40 miles per hour. Seems like a prime area for tickets to be handed out. I can’t imagine anyone getting very far without breaching one of those two limits.
As it happens, about a quarter mile before this pair of signs, there’s another pair that have been there a long time. Those signs, which mark the departure from a more residential area to a largely uninhabited stretch of road, mandate a speed limit of 55 miles per hour, with the same minimum speed of 40 miles per hour.
So why would the county want people to speed up to 55 only to put the brakes on a few hundred yards down the road? They don’t. They just put up the wrong sign. It was gone a few days later.
This isn’t the first time the Hawaii County Department of Public Works has had a sign problem. In late 2016, a major new road project, the Mamalahoa Highway Bypass, south of Kailua-Kona, was completed. Where this new road joined the existing Mamalahoa Highway, a dangerous Y-shaped junction became a fully-signaled, four-road intersection.
Most people were thrilled with the new, safer setup, but not all. People unfamiliar with the area were perplexed. They didn’t know where to go because the major new highway intersection didn’t come with any signs. If that sounds like it must be an exaggeration, it is a bit. There was one sign, on the old road, that had not been removed during the project. Unfortunately, because of the intersection’s redesign, the directions it gave were wrong. It indicated the main highway went straight ahead, but that now sent traffic plunging down a steep, winding road into a populous residential area.
As with our local sign, after a few days the old highway sign disappeared and a week or so later proper signage was erected for the new intersection.
This sign can be seen at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens in Hilo, and that’s Sriracha pacing behind the fence. I post this because I really want one of those signs. It would be great, give local kids something to think about, maybe even cause the neighbor’s dogs to think twice before pooping in the yard.
The only thing that could improve this sign is to add, ‘or we’ll throw you over the fence.’
For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.
The last Ironman World Championship in Kailua Kona saw a lot of cyclists breaking the law. No one in this photo was anywhere near meeting the minimum speed requirement. Hawaii police could have had a field day had they been so inclined.
I enjoyed seeing this sign at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. I guess the storm was severe enough to knock the sign over.
For more information about Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, go to nps.gov/kaho/index.htm.
Above: The sign by the start of the trail to Mauna Kea summit.
Below: Two disrespectful people and one more on the way, dwarfed by the scale of the volcano.
I was in Kailua Kona recently when I saw this electronic sign flashing “Emergency Water Restriction” and “Stop Sprinkler Use.” The irony, of course, was that I saw the sign during the kind of tropical downpour that washes cars, trees, and houses away. The road I was on was a shallow river. Entering one store, I had to wade through water lapping at my calves.
Kona’s water supply has been in trouble for several weeks now, but it’s nothing to do with rainfall. The water supply comes from wells and several of the pumps have broken down. Most of the pumps are different so each has its own unique spare parts. The one, brand new, spare pump available proved to be defective.
How was such a situation allowed to happen? Well, that’s a good question and people in high places are concerned. Serious questions are being asked. New procedures are being drawn up. Those responsible will be held to account. Just kidding on that last one. That’s not really how things work here.
The Tong Wo Society is a nonprofit organization, founded for Chinese immigrant workers as a meeting place and social center. The society’s building, at Halawa in North Kohala, is the oldest standing Chinese building in the state. It’s only open to the public one day a year during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Graham's Island 