SSFM Receives Three American Planning Association, Hawai’i Chapter Awards
SSFM International is honored to have received three of the eleven 2021 awards bestowed by American Planning Association, Hawai‘i Chapter this year. The awards recognize individuals, communities, private organizations, public agencies, and professional planning and design firms for work that exemplifies the planning profession’s highest goals and ideals.
Presented at the virtual Hawaiʻi Congress of Planning Officials Conference, SSFM’s projects include the Best Practice Award for Climate Adaptation Design Principles for Urban Honolulu; the Transportation Planning Award for the County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero Action Plan; and the Implementation Award for the S. Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road Intersection Improvements.
“These awards are especially gratifying in light of SSFM’s continuing commitment to resilience,” explains Melissa May, one of the firm’s Resilience Practice Leaders. “All three of these projects represent proactive steps to address climate change through promoting resilient building design and furthering complete streets to support safe and sustainable transportation.”
SSFM’s winning projects included:
Best Practice Award: Climate Adaptation Design Principles for Urban Honolulu
City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning & Permitting, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability & Resiliency, SSFM International, and Arup
SSFM worked with the City and County of Honolulu and Arup to develop climate adaptation design guidance for Honolulu transit-oriented developments (TOD) and other urban areas vulnerable to sea level rise. The principles provide information and best practices for adapting urban building sites and structures to climate change-related hazards including sea level rise. They represent an important step toward developing the climate resilience design guidelines for the City and County of Honolulu called for in Action 14 of the O‘ahu Resilience Strategy.
The Design Principles help to outline the path forward for the City and County of Honolulu to update codes and regulations and educate the public and development community about climate adaptation science and best practices. The Design Principles can also be used when reviewing discretionary permits for planned developments.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF
Transportation Planning Award: County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero Action Plan
County of Hawai‘i Planning Department, People for Active Transportation Hawai‘i (PATH), SSFM International, Inc. & Peter Koonce
The goal of the County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero is to eliminate all traffic related fatalities and serious injuries. The Vision Zero Action Plan, produced through the efforts of a multi-disciplinary Vision Zero Task Force, offers a new approach to traffic safety. Extensive research and data analysis revealed traffic fatality patterns and their causes. Applying an equity lens to determine disproportionate impacts on communities such as Native Hawaiians, low income residents, and kupuna yielded a map of high fatality corridors and fatality locations across the island that allowed the Task Force to identify and prioritize Vision Zero actions in the areas of Education and Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation. The Vision Zero Action Plan was championed by the Mayor and Planning Director and was adopted unanimously through Resolution 746-20 by the Hawai‘i County Council in November 2020.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF
Implementation Award: South Kalaheo Avenue and
Kailua Road Intersection Improvements
City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services and SSFM International, Inc.
The intersection of South Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road is the gateway to Kailua Beach Park and is the sole access to the Lanikai neighborhood. Traffic congestion, delayed emergency response and multimodal safety accessibility have long been concerns. The South Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road Improvements project addressed these operational and safety concerns. Community input was instrumental to understanding conflicting demands in order to strike a balance between multimodal safety/accessibility and automobile flow. To facilitate understanding, the team created traffic simulation models and plan-in-street view graphical representations. A lighter, cheaper interim pilot project reconfigured the intersection with a nonstandard single lane triangle roundabout to test traffic concerns and the preferred solutions, and heighten the community’s understanding of roundabout functioning. The pilot also enabled the City to pursue the full reconstruction of a standard roundabout that improves automobile operations while prioritizing multimodal safety/accessibility.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF
SSFM Receives Three American Planning Association, Hawai‘i Chapter Awards
SSFM International is honored to have received three of the eleven 2021 awards bestowed by American Planning Association, Hawai‘i Chapter this year. The awards recognize individuals, communities, private organizations, public agencies, and professional planning and design firms for work that exemplifies the planning profession’s highest goals and ideals.
Presented at the virtual Hawaiʻi Congress of Planning Officials Conference, SSFM’s projects include the Best Practice Award for Climate Adaptation Design Principles for Urban Honolulu; the Transportation Planning Award for the County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero Action Plan; and the Implementation Award for the S. Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road Intersection Improvements.
“These awards are especially gratifying in light of SSFM’s continuing commitment to resilience,” explains Melissa May, one of the firm’s Resilience Practice Leaders. “All three of these projects represent proactive steps to address climate change through promoting resilient building design and furthering complete streets to support safe and sustainable transportation.”
SSFM’s winning projects included:
Best Practice Award: Climate Adaptation Design Principles for Urban Honolulu
City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning & Permitting, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability & Resiliency, SSFM International, and Arup
SSFM worked with the City and County of Honolulu and Arup to develop climate adaptation design guidance for Honolulu transit-oriented developments (TOD) and other urban areas vulnerable to sea level rise. The principles provide information and best practices for adapting urban building sites and structures to climate change-related hazards including sea level rise. They represent an important step toward developing the climate resilience design guidelines for the City and County of Honolulu called for in Action 14 of the O‘ahu Resilience Strategy.
The Design Principles help to outline the path forward for the City and County of Honolulu to update codes and regulations and educate the public and development community about climate adaptation science and best practices. The Design Principles can also be used when reviewing discretionary permits for planned developments.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF
Transportation Planning Award: County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero Action Plan
County of Hawai‘i Planning Department, People for Active Transportation Hawai‘i (PATH), SSFM International, Inc. & Peter Koonce
The goal of the County of Hawai‘i Vision Zero is to eliminate all traffic related fatalities and serious injuries. The Vision Zero Action Plan, produced through the efforts of a multi-disciplinary Vision Zero Task Force, offers a new approach to traffic safety. Extensive research and data analysis revealed traffic fatality patterns and their causes. Applying an equity lens to determine disproportionate impacts on communities such as Native Hawaiians, low income residents, and kupuna yielded a map of high fatality corridors and fatality locations across the island that allowed the Task Force to identify and prioritize Vision Zero actions in the areas of Education and Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation. The Vision Zero Action Plan was championed by the Mayor and Planning Director and was adopted unanimously through Resolution 746-20 by the Hawai‘i County Council in November 2020.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF
Implementation Award: South Kalaheo Avenue and
Kailua Road Intersection Improvements
City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services and SSFM International, Inc.
The intersection of South Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road is the gateway to Kailua Beach Park and is the sole access to the Lanikai neighborhood. Traffic congestion, delayed emergency response and multimodal safety accessibility have long been concerns. The South Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road Improvements project addressed these operational and safety concerns. Community input was instrumental to understanding conflicting demands in order to strike a balance between multimodal safety/accessibility and automobile flow. To facilitate understanding, the team created traffic simulation models and plan-in-street view graphical representations. A lighter, cheaper interim pilot project reconfigured the intersection with a nonstandard single lane triangle roundabout to test traffic concerns and the preferred solutions, and heighten the community’s understanding of roundabout functioning. The pilot also enabled the City to pursue the full reconstruction of a standard roundabout that improves automobile operations while prioritizing multimodal safety/accessibility.
The documents are available for download at www.honolulu.gov/tod.
For full award text: Download Award Board PDF