My little community of Paia is a one stop light town. On occasion say when the surf is big, the single stop light can lead to traffic back ups going into the community. A few years back, the back up could be considerable with delays of ten-twenty minutes common. It was a price of paradise. About two years ago, the county collaborated with local land owners to install a mini-bypass as a temporary provision to ease some of the traffic congestion. I will be candid in saying that I was pretty skeptical of the solution. I was also wrong. The mini-bypass has done a pretty good job and I personally can’t recall a delay of more than 5 minutes over the last year. That being said, the mini-bypass was crafted as a temporary solution. The state has been formulating plans for a bigger solution for some time. They have created a website with information on the planning process. They have also scheduled their first public meeting on the project for tomorrow night.

The meeting will be held Wednesday October 22, 2008 from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Paia Community Center. The meeting will present information on the planning efforts to date. It will also allow for public comments and recommendations on the project.

Pete Jalbert