Labor Of Love For Lanikai Loop Is Done

Rasa Fournier
Wednesday - April 12, 2006
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A new crosswalk finally completes the “Lanikai loop,” creating a safe route for runners, walkers and bicyclists after five years of work by a few dedicated Lanikai residents.

The husband and wife team of Marianne and E.K. Whiting saw the project through to completion in a labor of love. They often enjoyed taking the run around Lanikai together, they explained, but there was one area at the neighborhood’s entrance that posed a hazard.


“The area was dangerous (for pedestrians) with cars speeding down the hill and around the curve,” testified Marianne. “I would see lots of people doing the run, but the whole area was so eroded, you had the choice of running in a rocky ditch and spraining your ankle, or running in the road and getting hit by a car.”

E.K. suggested turning a nearby grassy area into a path and crosswalk. To do this, at least one section of a short lava rock wall would need to come down so walkers could cut through the triangle instead of going around it into the dangerous street.

Marianne revved into action with the proposition. “I thought it seemed like a pretty simple project in my naivete,” she said. “I learned otherwise.”

She brought the idea to the Lanikai Association board as well as to the Kailua Neighborhood Board. “Everyone who had done something like this said, “How tenacious are you?’” she recalled, “and I said ‘Very.’”

She was bounced through a dizzying list of people from bike-path experts and design and construction people to bean counters, the city Department of Parks and Recreation, and transportation officials. She spoke with regional supervisor Sam Higa and contacted then-Mayor Jeremy Harris. The initial budget estimate of $215,000 proved daunting, as did the wording of “runner and bike path” or “crosswalk,” as the latter required ADA compliance. She also needed a special permit since the area was close to the shoreline.


The Whitings’ persistent lobbying along with help from Lanikai Association president at the time, Ned Dewey, and their government level “cheerleader” Nancy Creighton, paid off. The 110-foot cement crosswalk and pathway exists as a testament to their commitment despite the many speed bumps along the way.

“(The process) got so unbelievably complicated, but we got the crosswalk in. And every time I go by, it’s so much safer, and you’re out of harm’s way.”

Now the only improvement needed is one involving time.

“What (this project) shows,” she said, “is that even though working within our system can be frustrating because things take long, we can complain about it, but we can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

“I really do believe it’s the citizens who make the difference. Someone’s got to pick up the ball and go with it, but you have to be tenacious, and young,” she laughed, “so you can live long enough to see it get done.”

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