Hawai'i Kai community members will demonstrate on Lunalilo Home Road at 1 p.m. today over the city's $6.5 million upgrade of street lighting.

The demonstration will be held on Lunalilo Home Road near Anapalau Street. Residents are calling the expenditure "wasteful" and discussed the issue at the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board last month after noticing that more than one light pole was used to replace each old pole.

Residents were advised that the city was replacing street lights from Kalaniana'ole Highway to Hawai'i Kai Drive and along Hawai'i Kai Drive. None of the new light poles will have shields.

The city has said that the new lights are required because traffic counts prompted the upgrade. The traffic counts showed that more than 1,200 cars per hour were traveling on Lunalilo Home Road, putting it into the major commercial roadway category, which requires more lights.