Department of Transportation

KAHULUI – The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) held a blessing ceremony on Sunday, April 15, 2018 in anticipation of the opening of the latest phase of the Honoapiilani Highway Realignment, Phase 1B-2. Phase 1B-2 constructed 2.7 miles of road from the end of Phase 1B-1 at Hokiokio Place to the realignment’s southern terminus in Olowalu.

The newly realigned highway moves the main route into West Maui farther inland. The existing Honoapiilani Highway in Olowalu has been affected by shoreline erosion and was identified for sea level rise mitigations in the 2003 Statewide Highway Shoreline Protection Study (an updated report will be released in Summer 2019) and the Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report by the Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.

On Monday, April 23, 2018 at approximately 6 a.m., HDOT will open Phase 1B-2 to traffic. All traffic will be routed to the Bypass at the Southern Terminus. Honoapiilani Highway in the vicinity of the Southern Terminus will be contraflowed between 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. on April 23rd to prepare the Southern Terminus for opening.

Lower Honoapiilani Highway can be accessed by connector roads, Kai Hele Ku Street, Hokiokio Place, Lahainaluna Road, and Keawe Street. The free right-hand turn lane from Keawe Street onto northbound Honoapiilani Highway and the mauka northbound thru lane approaching Keawe Street will be re-striped at the time of the opening.

The contractor will be constructing the tie-in from Honoapiilani Highway to Southern Connector Road that will require the temporary closure of lower Honoapiilani Highway three-quarters of a mile south of Kai Hele Ku Street. This 24/7 closure is expected to last for approximately three weeks as the tie in to the Southern Connector Road is finalized. Traffic heading south on Honoapiilani Highway will need to turn left onto Kai Hele Ku Street to access the Bypass.  Pedestrian access to the beach along lower Honoapiilani Highway from Kai Hele Ku Street to the start of the work zone at the Southern Connector will be available during the temporary closure.

A diagram showing the temporary closure is available here.

Realigned Honoapiilani Highway Phase 1B-2 from the Southern Connector Road.

FHWA Director of Field Services West, Peter Osborn, delivers remarks on the innovations that made the delivery of this latest phase possible within 22 months.

Kahu Marcelo Bustillos leads the blessing of Phase 1B-2 with the hope that those who will be travelling the new road have a safe journey.

Left to Right: Micah Leadford, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Central Federal Land Division project manager; Senator J. Kalani English; Senator Roz Baker; HDOT Director Jade Butay; Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company President Gerry Majkut; FHWA Director of Field Services West, Peter Osborn; Senator Gil Keith-Agaran; and Peter Martin, a principal of Makila Land Company, which donated much of the land Phase 1B-2 was built on, gather following the blessing of the new road.

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