Talk about an alternative highway around congested Kapa’a began in the late 1960s and continues today. For all the talking, though, the state is scarcely closer to building a bypass road than it was four decades ago, said Steve Kyono,
Talk about an alternative highway around congested Kapa’a began in the late 1960s and continues today.
For all the talking, though, the state is scarcely closer to building a bypass road than it was four decades ago, said Steve Kyono, district engineer for the state Department of Transportation’s Highways Division.
The more recent planning for the road began again in 1992, “and today we still don’t have anything in our hands,” Kyono told a recent meeting of the Lihu’e Business Association.
There were justified fears in the late 1960s and early 1970s from members of the Kapa’a Business Association that an alternative to Kuhio Highway through Kapa’a would divert traffic from the commercial district and hurt businesses along the highway, Kyono said.
At that time, it was the state’s position that no connector or feeder roads would be built – at least by the state – allowing motorists on the bypass route to get to Kapa’a’s downtown business district. If Kaua’i County wanted feeder streets, it would have to build them, explained Kyono.
While business-related anxiety remains, the cry has become much louder for relief from traffic congestion which typically stretches from Wailua River to Kealia Beach.
Especially slow is the stretch of Kuhio Highway from about Coconut Marketplace through Kapa’a town, where it often takes about 30 minutes to travel two miles.
The temporary Kapa’a bypass doesn’t really bypass Kapa’a, but is an alternative to congested Kuhio Highway through Waipouli that is crowded even when there aren’t thousands of visitors on the island.
Although a Kapa’a bypass is the state’s top highway priority for Kaua’i, a four-lane Kaumuali’i Highway from Lihu’e to the Tree Tunnel (Maluhia Road) will be built first, Kyono said.
Wetland concerns, a spot palatable to businesses and residents for a new bridge over the Wailua River, the main route the road will take through or around Wailua, Waipouli and Kapa’a, and other issues have slowed planning for the bypass.
The island’s long-range transportation master plan will begin to be updated next year, Kyono said.
Designing for the first phase of Kaumuali’i widening (Lihu’e to Kipu Road) is scheduled to start early next year, with the state expected to seek bids for construction in late 2003, he said.
On other issues, Kyono indicated that much resurfacing of current roadways is either underway or scheduled:
– Resurfacing of Kuhio Highway from Lihu’e to the Wailua River bridge is planned. Resurfacing of the highway from Hardy Street in Lihu’e to Hanama’ulu will be in two phases over the next year or two.
– Nawiliwili Road’s resurfacing in its entirety is nearly complete, with construction of guardrails, final striping and erection of signs coming soon.
– Traffic-signal modernization, which includes the installation of brighter green, yellow and red lights among other advances, will take place at Haleko Road and Nawiliwili Road, Kaumuali’i at Nawiliwili, and Kaumuali’i at Nuhou Street, in the middle of next year.
– Kapule Highway will get some improvements, and Ma’alo Road leading to Wailua Falls will get badly needed resurfacing.
Meanwhile, a new DOT Highways Division office being built in Puhi will allow all operations to be consolidated there, Kyono said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
