Military and local agencies practice Kolekole Pass evacuation route

The military and local officials are getting serious about reestablishing a key emergency evacuation route for Leeward Oahu residents.

On Wednesday, a large convoy of vehicles drove up Lualualei Naval Road and across Kolekole Pass to Schofield Barracks as part of a “full-scale” exercise. It involved personnel and vehicles from the Army, Navy, state Department of Transportation, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, the Honolulu Police Department and Honolulu Fire Department.

Originally built by the Army’s 3rd Engineers in the 1930s, the narrow, winding road traverses the steep, rugged ridges of the Waianae Mountains as a way to connect Navy and Army facilities on either side.

It was long considered an ideal emergency route for residents of the Waianae Coast that rely on Farrington Highway to get in and out. If the highway were blocked, it arguably would be the only way. But a mixture of increased military security and challenges maintaining the rugged road have essentially meant it’s been closed off to Leeward residents for years.

The deadly August 2023 Lahaina fire — and the increasing risk of more large fires as Hawaii’s dry seasons get drier — have injected new urgency into pushes to reopen the pass as an emergency route.

Jennifer Walter, the acting director of DEM, told reporters during a news conference at the Navy’s Lualualei Annex before the exercise that “we need to think differently about evacuation, and we need to come up with more options, better plans, to make sure that we can direct people to safe routes in emergencies and quickly communicate where they need to go to be safe.”

In November the Army hosted a tabletop exercise with local officials to look at how they would support evacuations spanning communities from Nanakuli to Makaha. As they prepared for Wednesday’s on-the-ground exercise, U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii commander Col. Rachel Sullivan said, “This exercise is a critical opportunity for us to test and refine our emergency response plans, ensuring our readiness to respond to emergencies here on the west side of Oahu.”

The latest version of Congress’s annual National Defense Authorization Act included provisions requested by Hawaii’s congressional delegation calling for the Army and Navy to work together on short- and long-term repairs and maintenance and instructs them to “coordinate with representatives of government entities of the State of Hawaii to investigate the scope of work and budget requirements to structurally reinforce and repair the Kolekole Pass so it may be used for emergency egress and ingress by individuals in the event of an emergency.”

“Our intention is to exercise our ability to respond on short notice in case of an emergency,” said Capt. Sam White, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “This exercise will give us an opportunity to learn if there’s anything that we need to refine to be ready to respond to any request from the civil authorities to support.”

Local resident Tiana Wilbur said “this has been a long time coming for us to have access as an emergency route here at Kolekole Pass.”

Construction of the road began in 1935 and was completed in 1937 with funding from the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act of 1935.

But the mountain road was always vulnerable to rock and mudslides along with other hazards. At various times it has been impassible and requires regular maintenance — and lots of funding — to keep open. Military officials have heavily restricted civilian access, citing both security and safety concerns.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the military tightened security and access to facilities across Hawaii, including the attack. But a 2001 memorandum of understanding between the state and the military also called for the military to open up the military’s road system to civilians in the event of emergencies or a complete shutdown of Farrington Highway when requested by the state Civil Defense Division.

That’s happened four times, including a large brush fire in Nanakuli in 2005 and flooding in 2007 that caused severe traffic congestion for several days.

“A lot of my family live out on this side, I have military friends that live on this side, so it’s very important for us to have some kind of alternative, or options to evacuate,” said HI-EMA Executive Officer Don Aweau. “So this has been kind of a profound thing for our community out here on the West Side. I live out in Ewa Beach, and this is one of the things that is a concern with a lot of our island communities, not only here on Oahu, but statewide.”

In 2005 the military opened up the pass to Department of Defense ID card holders as an alternative to traffic on Farrington during normal business hours. By 2008 heavy rain caused rock slides and damage. It only functioned as a one-lane road with an estimated $80 million in repairs, according to the Army.

In 2011 even more rain and rockfalls further damaged the road and it was closed to all traffic. Ever since, military and other agencies have worked to repair it various times as federal funds were made available.

Community members have pushed for the military to reopen the road, but Wilbur recalled a site visit where she concluded that “seeing the integrity of the road, was like, ‘OK, wait, actually this cannot be our alternate route,’ because of the landslides, the integrity of the road, the bridge that was collapsed. They just had fixed it before we did that tour. (And) seeing how narrow it was, and how it bottlenecks.”

But she said that since 2023 “the Maui fires just put a lot more pressure. So the community was a lot more loud about are we going to be next? Are we the next Native Hawaiian community, historic community, that is going to be burned to the ground with no access out or roads barricaded?”

Though the roads remain far from ideal, Wilbur said “the way they strategically planned this, I think, is absolutely a great, great start.”

Military officials sought to highlight ways the military is supporting local agencies and communities as the Pentagon increasingly sees the Pacific as its top priority theater of operations and looks to bolster its presence in the region.

The Navy has been trying to repair its image in Hawaii after fuel from its underground Red Hill facility — which sits just 100 feet above an aquifer most of Oahu relies on for clean water — leaked into the service’s water system in November 2021. The Army is currently negotiating the renewal of leases on state-owned lands it uses for training that expire in 2029, including its controversial Makua Valley training ground on the Leeward side.

Wilbur said that for many in West Oahu, there is a complicated history with the military and that “it’s not a strong relationship and it’s not a trusting relationship.” But she praised efforts by current military leaders in the area and said that efforts to reopen the pass are a positive step.

Walter said that while there are several agencies dedicated to planning for disasters, she also called on community members to think ahead and do planning of their own.

“The work that needs to be done is also on the part of community members, thinking ahead about what routes you might take, including potential emergency evacuation routes and leaving early whenever there is a threat of any type of emergency,” she said. “We can’t wait until people are knocking at our doors to take action if we feel unsafe. And as much as we’re getting ready on the government side, we also want to communicate today that personal readiness is also important.”