KEALAKEKUA — After more than a half-century of daydreaming, planning, legal action and construction delays, the entirety of the Mamalahoa Bypass opened to the public at noon on Friday.
At several points, the event carried an element of a eulogy.
Uncle Billy Paris, a longtime paniolo and activist, was remembered for his support of the project by Brandon Gonzalez, director of public works. Paris died in November 2015, at age 92, and his knowledge, and that of the other residents, was critical in the development.
Paris told him he and the other paniolo knew where all the lava tubes were, based on the sound against the horses’ hooves.
“We spent all this money with the best technology and I could’ve just hired a paniolo to ride across the lava,” Gonzalez said, reflecting on the time when Paris easily located a lava tube that was incorrectly located in geological and archaeological surveys.
It turned out Paris and the other paniolo knew where all the lava tubes were based on the sound against the horses’ hooves.
It was also a eulogy for the administration of term-limited Mayor Billy Kenoi, who was widely credited with pushing the program through private and public difficulties.
“All these projects in West Hawaii would not have been done without the people of West Hawaii,” Kenoi said.
Kenoi made completing the bypass a priority when he came into office in 2008, and this was the last road he will officially open as mayor.
The county listed the start of the project as 1960, when a plan was presented to the State Planning Office showing a highway.
In 1999, builders of the Hokulia development began work, which included a section of roadway. The roadway eventually linked Halekii Street to Alii Drive in Keauhou.
It wasn’t until 2009 that the segment was opened to traffic, which was initially limited to one way during limited hours. Those restrictions were lifted in Janhart 2013 and ground was broken for Phase II on July 2014.
The Phase II continues 2.2 miles from the intersection with Halekii Street in Keauhou to an intersection with Mamalahoa Highway in Napopopoo. That intersection now also has traffic signals.
Much of the the highway is done in concrete rather than asphalt, which Warren Lee said will wind up being more cost-effective. The project cost $27.1 million.
“Grass doesn’t grow as easily on concrete,” he said.
That can already been seen on the Phase I section of the highway, with tufts popping up along much of the length.
At times excitement bubbled up with the speakers, who could see the trolley used to give tours sitting nearby.
“I can’t wait to go on the highways. I wanted to pull my council card and say I need to do a site visit,” said Maile David, county councilwoman for District 6.
She remembers being 14 years old and hearing the kupuna talk about how they needed a highway through the area.
The whole section of road is now called Alii Drive, and one of the most historic stretches of roadway in the state, said John de Fries, director of the department of research and development.
It passes along a center of Kamehameha I’s government, near where Kamehameha III was born and along the battlefield that saw the end of the kapu system.
