traffic

One thing we noticed about kauai, which was surprising is the traffic especially from poipu to Lihue right before rice street and from the kapaa area on saturday to Lihue. It doesn%26#39;t seem to matter what time of morning it was but for whatever reason, which I could never figure out, we were in stop and go traffic for a couple miles. There is construction in various areas but this was not related. The speed limits are slow too but that was still not it. Seriously, the traffic in these areas made me feel like I was on 101 here in the bay area.

traffic

When I%26#39;m stuck in traffic on Kauai, I simply roll down the windows and smell the sweet fragrances of the island. I don%26#39;t let it bother me...I%26#39;m in no hurry, as I%26#39;m on ';Kauai time';! :-)

traffic

Put the roof of the convertible down and blast Iz. %26lt;wink%26gt;

Anna

Not sure why you are surprised. We talk about the traffic in that exact spot from Kapaa to Lihue all the time. I know the 101 and it isn%26#39;t that bad. Always give yourselves an extra 10-15 minutes if getting to the airport or South Shore from the East. Another reason why this post is important is because many of us are always telling you to make it a full day of driving to the South if staying in Hanalei. You do not want to be in this traffic every day. Be smart and plan your activities well.

The backup on the east side is almost always from north Kapa%26#39;a to Kuamo%26#39;o Rd, rarely all the way to Lihue unless there%26#39;s a crash. The traffic lights at Halelio and Kuamo%26#39;o just seem to do a number on the flow of cars and clog things pretty well so allow extra time, especially in the afternon.

Jody

Poipu to Lihue: What is happening is the working folks headed in from the west side to go to their jobs. Plus some visitors headed to the airport, or up north for early activities.

Some days, I would notice, when driving from Puhi to poipu to work in the morning, that traffic would be backed up on the main highway from the puhi light, to past the tunnel of trees road.

Same thing happens, from the north, thru kapa%26#39;a and into Lihue...but they generally have the contra flow going, with two lanes heading south bound.

Also, south bound traffic out of Kapa%26#39;a gets stacked up due to the traffic lights in Wailua. All two of them.

Another the have noticed, which is one reason we do not stay on the main coastal road thru Kapa%26#39;a is saturday mornings, the north and east side folks, and many, many locals are heading in to Lihue, or Poipu, or the westside, or the canyon, or the airport, and it is a parking lot.

We were headed up north, oposite the dead stopped or dead slow traffic heading south.

So, there you have it....as visitors , we stayed in poipu, and would take the puhi bypass, when heading toward Lihue. Slam dunk easy.

Still do take the bypass, as residents at Banyon Harbor. 95% of the time we are returning from poipu, or points west.

When heading up north, we do not go up to the main hwy, we take the short cut that by passes all that Lihue, Hanamaulu traffic, and then join back with the north bound hwy.

Yes, sometimes we get jammed up in dead stopped traffic. We hang a 180 and go do something else.

Last week we were headed to Glass Beach, and also Hanapepe to visit our friends.

Well as we headed down the hill that lead to ele ele, and port allen, the traffic just flat stopped.

We thought it would get moving as the construction workers usually have a flag man, for single lane traffic. Trade off, no worries.

Well, we sat, and sat, and saw that plan was not working, or even if they had a pland.

So, we did a 180, and switched to poipu, had a nice walk over the shipwreck, looked for a friend who works at the Hyatt, he was on vacation, so we walked over to the waiohai, met some nice visitors, talked story, and headed home.

Even if we were headed home, which has happened, we turn around and initiate some kind of a plan B.

I know that is not always a choice, but so far, in many years of driving here, it has worked out.

Anyway, those are some of the reasons for the particular situations that you mentioned.

When we stayed in poipu, and were headed up north, we would take off about 9:00 am, after most of the work traffic had settled out.

Now, living here in Lihue, we leave about 9:30 for up north, and no problems. We are going against the contra flow from kapa%26#39;a...and no problems.

If heading from Lihue to the canyon or Koke%26#39;e, we leave early, but are oposite the traffic flow.

Unless there is an accident, we really have not been held up to any great extent.

We use the by passes, and plan as best we can.

Denny

Denny

The worst day of Kaua`i traffic can%26#39;t even begin to compare to the best day on the 101.

I do wish they%26#39;d continue the contra-flow through Saturday.

Traffic on Kauai doesn%26#39;t begin to compare to traffic in California. I%26#39;ve actually spent over two hours on my drive from Ventura to Santa Barbara before, on the 101, and that%26#39;s only about 35-40 miles. One thing I will say though, as much as I will try to relax and smell the plumeria, I%26#39;d still rather not be sitting in traffic while I%26#39;m on Kauai. On my visit in Sept 2006 I stayed in Poipu but found myself driving to the North Shore at least 4 times in my 7-day visit. I didn%26#39;t encounter any traffic though, because I timed my travel time after 9:00 am and no later than 3:00 pm on my return. On the morning of my boat tour with Na Pali Catamaran, I left around 6:00 am and made it to Hanalei by about 6:55 am...very little traffic, though I did see all the contra flow traffic as I was heading north that morning.

small island, 2 lane roads, population doubling since 1960, that population all owning cars now, 15 thousand visitors roaming around in cars many days some of whom admit to putting 1000 miles on a car here in a week! All that adds up to traffic at peak times and at the worst choke points like the Wailua river crossing/Kuamoo light and the Puhi traffic light at KCC.

When airfares spiked last year and occupancy was at its lowest, there was no traffic at all.

Just a few comments.

Denny: You have the time and option to ';pull a 180'; but visitors do not. If I were on my way to another area of the island and I saw some traffic building up I just wait a few minutes and it always clears. It%26#39;s perhaps a 15 minute wait. Doing a 180 requires you to know where else you could go for the day.

Dave: Good point about tourism. Traffic = more people coming to the island = good.

pzp: Can%26#39;t you talk to the county about the contra flow on Saturdays? Great idea.

For you new visitors, get a map and know the bypass through Kapaa. That will knock off 10 minutes. Plan your day and give yourself a little extra time and when going to the airport especially during the busy summer months. One Sunday morning I thought I had all the time in the world and I forgot after church everyone heads to the beach with a stop at the Shell station first for gas and ice. I had to sprint to my plane. It%26#39;s small island with one main road. Go to Maui or Oahu and really see traffic.

Jebett, I was in maui two years ago and the traffic in kauai was the same....yeah sure, not like southern cal or parts of 101 at many times of the day. Being on a beautiful island on vacation sitting in a line of cars is not a big worry. Really, it%26#39;s not a major complaint, I was just surprised to see daily backups--maybe I had not seen the past posts about this on TA.