LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County officials are moving forward with plans for a second leg of the county’s proposed, 16-mile, coastal bicycle and pedestrian pathway from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola. The entire project is described by a top county official as
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i County officials are moving forward with plans for a second leg of the county’s proposed, 16-mile, coastal bicycle and pedestrian pathway from Nawiliwili Harbor to Anahola.
The entire project is described by a top county official as unique to Hawai‘i if not to the world.
The project will beautify 16 miles of coastline, and the views from the pathway will be unsurpassed, said Doug Haigh, chief of the Kaua‘i County Department of Public Works Building Division.
Once the entire 16-mile project is completed, “there won’t be anything like it in the world,” Haigh said.
For the next phase of the project, county officials have awarded a nearly $12-million contract to Jas. W. Glover, Ltd. to design and build a 4.3-mile segment from Lihi Park by the Pono Kai Resort in Kapa‘a northward to Ahihi Point, commonly known as “Donkey Beach,” past Kealia Beach.
Work on the newest project was scheduled to start yesterday, Monday, May 2, and is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2006, or in the early part of 2007.
A public informational meeting on the project has been scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at the Kapa‘a Middle School cafeteria.
Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste made the announcement about the planned work on the second leg during a meeting with the media in his office at the Lihu‘e Civic Center recently.
The pathway has been named Ala Hele Makalae (“the path to walk or to go along the coast”), Baptiste said.
The newest leg will eventually connect with an existing, 2.3-mile pedestrian and bicycle pathway that has been constructed at Lydgate Park in Wailua. Other legs are planned to complete the entire length of the 16-mile project.
When completed, the 16-mile project is expected to greatly enhance the recreational opportunities for residents and visitors in East Kaua‘i, Baptiste said. The 4.3-mile project also involves improvements to four existing cane-haul bridges, including the Waika‘ea, Mo‘ikeha, Kealia and Kumukumu bridges, and the construction of comfort stations, rest pavilions and picnic shelters along the pathway.
Unlike the Lydgate Park leg, which was built with cement, the next leg will be constructed with cement and asphalt, as part of a cost-cutting measure, county officials said.
The decision to use the combination of cement and asphalt for the pathway came as a result of an analysis on “shared-use trails in different cities across the Mainland,” Haigh said.
County officials made their decision to go with asphalt and concrete following an analysis of bicycle and pedestrian pathways built in Atlanta, Portland and Seattle.
A consultant also suggested using that material mix, in accordance with guidelines set by the American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials, Baptiste said.
The second leg will be different from the first leg in that an equestrian trail has been incorporated, in response to requests by horse riders for it, county officials said. The equestrian trail will be built between Kealia Beach and Ahihi Point.
Other sections of the 16-mile project are pending, but Haigh said the decision to go with the 4.3-mile section was tied to the donation to the county of 59 acres and 7.3 acres along the coastline by land developers Thomas and Bonnie McCloskey and Justin and Michelle Hughes, respectively.
Baptiste expressed his appreciation for the donation of the land in and around Kealia. For the $12-million project, the Federal Highway Administration in 2003 provided $10 million for the project. The balance of $2 million included grants from the federal government and county capital-improvement funds.
