emiller@westhawaiitoday.com
BY ERIN MILLER | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Don’t look for widening work on Queen Kaahumanu Highway beyond Kealakehe Parkway before fall.
State Department of Transportation Director Glenn Okimoto told West Hawaii residents in December work on the second phase of the long-anticipated widening project would begin in April. DOT Highways Division Director Sal Panem said that has now been pushed back to September. Ongoing issues with the Native Hawaiian consultation project have pushed the start date back more than a year now.
Panem spoke at Tuesday’s Kona Town Meeting at the Old Kona Airport’s Makaeo Events Pavilion.
The announcement didn’t sit well with some of the meeting attendees.
“It’s a classic example of what not to do,” Burt Matsuyama said. “We’ve been given so many start dates that got pushed back. Everyone here is talking about how long the highway is going to take. I’m just concerned when it’s going to start.”
Matsuyama criticized the way the delay is being handled.
“There is no process, it seems, to have a timeline of resolution, where you open it up for all public input,” Matsuyama said. “It seems it’s going on and on. The thing is broken. It doesn’t serve the Hawaiian community and it doesn’t serve the general public, because you really create more antagonism within the community.”
Public Works Director Warren Lee provided updates on several West Hawaii projects, including two on Alii Drive.
The draft environmental assessment for widening Alii Drive from Hualalai Road to Walua Road should be sent to the state Office of Environmental Quality Control in the next month or two, Lee said. The road there, along Oneo Bay, is narrow and without sidewalks. The project will add walkways, he said.
First mentioned when Steve Yamashiro was mayor, Lee said the project will have two phases. In the first, the utilities will be moved underground. In the second, the road will be widened and the seawall may be pushed back.
The county has acquired three of the four parcels needed to accommodate widening an Alii Drive culvert, Lee said. Officials are still determining how to best reroute traffic during construction.
“Do we create a bypass road so you can have two-way traffic continue while the culvert is demolished or do we build one lane at a time and demolish one lane at a time?” Lee asked. “What’s the traffic impact during construction?”
The project will widen the mouth of the dry riverbed to 80 feet. Lee said the project is estimated to cost about $10 million, but may cost more depending on which construction method the county chooses.
Work on Ane Keohokalole Highway later this month will close Palani Road in both directions from a Friday night to a Monday morning, Lee said.
The condemnation process continues for property to complete the Laaloa Extension, Lee said, as he went through a list of West Hawaii road projects.
The Kahului to Keauhou Parkway, also called Alii Parkway, is still on the county’s list of roads to consider building, Lee said.
“There was a group that says we don’t want this parkway,” Lee said. “There was a group that says we need it.”
The county commissioned a new archaeological survey, which did discover additional historical sites, Lee said.
“Now that we have the additional points, we’re trying to see what would be the route,” he said. “We’re not at a point to say go or no go. It’s still under assessment.”
West Hawaii is slated to receive several bus shelters. Many will be located along Alii Drive, Lee said, as well as at Yano Hall and near Konawaena schools.
emiller@westhawaiitoday.com