• Gateway Project Gateway Project Dozens of volunteers are expected to be out in force Saturday doing landscaping work on the Gateway Project outside of Lihu‘e Airport. The landscaping for the project ranges up and down Kapule Highway and Ahukini
• Gateway Project
Gateway Project
Dozens of volunteers are expected to be out in force Saturday doing landscaping work on the Gateway Project outside of Lihu‘e Airport.
The landscaping for the project ranges up and down Kapule Highway and Ahukini Road. It was developed during the administration of former mayor Maryanne Kusaka, and aims at providing a pleasant welcome and aloha to visitors.
While the rock wall edifices at the corner of Ahukini Road and Kapule Highway, which feature a mini-waterfall and large greeting signs, require little maintenance. Hundreds of yards of roadside landscaping require extensive maintenance.
The project was underwritten with federal funds that matched in-kind volunteer work on the project. Like many civic projects, there was great enthusiasm going into the first years of the Gateway Project, and most landscaped areas were well maintained.
Today dedicated volunteers continue to trim and mow sections of the roadside vegetation, while other sections appear to be neglected and overgrown.
The work being done tomorrow is an effort at bringing back the former glory to more of this stretch of landscaping.
It’s apparent that a new, long-term plan is needed to bring this project back together. The army of volunteers needed to keep the entire stretch of greenery up to snuff just isn’t there.
One solution might be compressing how much of the landscaping is maintained, and consolidating the work near the intersection outside the airport, where the rock walls are located.
While in not being a newcomer to Kaua‘i, it’s hard to gauge the overall impression received by visitors arriving on Kaua‘i from neglected sections of landscaping, it’s obvious a smaller, constantly maintained area would bring a new shine to this area.
The intentions behind the Gateway Project were well intended, and drew massive support from across the Island. Now things have changed and it is time to face reality and to optimize the resources that are available to keep the Gateway legacy going.
