FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2005                                                      Release No. M-54

 CITY CREWS COMPLETE MAKAKILO
SIGN INSTALLATION

            Working through last weekend, City workers of the Division of Road Maintenance completed the installation of 106 traffic safety and warning signs in Makakilo on Sunday  afternoon (Aug. 7, 2005).

            “Our crew worked overtime to install the signs, as the community requested,” said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. “We are well aware of the concerns raised by residents in the wake of April’s tragic accident.”

Fifteen-year-old Nathan Ackerman was struck by a truck and killed as he crossed Makakilo Drive to catch a school bus on April 4.

Since then, City officials met with concerned Makakilo residents on several occasions and agreed to their request for replacement of many existing traffic signs with fluorescent ones and the installation of new signs. In accord with federal standards, a total of 106 signs were replaced or newly installed since the work began in July.

The City will also provide new crosswalks and pavement markings as part of the repaving and reconstruction of Makikilo Drive, a project that is now under way.

In addition, the City Department of Transportation Services has been working on a proposed traffic-calming project that they will take to the community in the near future to get their input.  A previous proposal for such a project was rejected by the community.

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Contact:

               Bill Brennan, 527-6928

               Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767