Hawaiʻi lawmakers are pushing for car-free fun zones—but not on Oʻahu

People often associate street closures with disruption, said Abbey Seitz, director of transportation equity for Hawaiʻi Appleseed. Frequent closures of Waikīkī’s Kalākaua Avenue for street festivals and parades, for example, were disruptive enough that the City Council recently limited the number of closures allowed each year.

But Seitz thinks the Summer Streets program can focus on quiet side streets rather than thoroughfares like Farrington Highway, the sole access route up and down the Waiʻanae Coast. That would be better for minimizing potential conflicts with motor vehicles anyway, she said, which is the entire point of the program. 

“A lot of people don’t bike—or even for that matter, walk—because they don’t feel safe doing so,” Seitz said. 

That contributes to only about a quarter of Hawaiʻi residents meeting federal guidelines for physical activity, the Department of Health wrote in its supportive testimony. 

“Safe, accessible, and walkable communities encourage physical activity and can promote better health outcomes in communities whose populations are at greater risk for serious chronic diseases and conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes,” the testimony states, adding that under-resourced communities often lack safe and accessible places for people to gather and be active.