Honoapi‘ilani Realignment Opens to Traffic on April 23

The newly completed Honoapiʻilani Highway realignment Phase IB-2 opens to traffic on Monday, April 23, 2018 following a blessing held over the weekend.

Officials with the state Department of Transportation say all traffic will be routed to the bypass at the southern terminus beginning at approximately 6 a.m. on Monday.  In the three hours prior to the opening, traffic on the Honoapiʻilani Highway in the vicinity of the southern terminus will be contraflowed to prepare the opening.

The latest phase of the Honoapiʻilani Highway Realignment, Phase 1B-2 features 2.7 miles of road from the end of Phase 1B-1 at Hōkiokio Place to the realignment’s new southern terminus in Olowalu.

The newly realigned highway moves the main route into West Maui farther inland. The existing Honoapiʻilani Highway in Olowalu has been affected by shoreline erosion and was identified for sea level rise mitigation in the 2003 Statewide Highway Shoreline Protection Study and the Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report by the Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.

Transportation officials note that Lower Honoapiʻilani Highway can be accessed by connector roads, Kai Hele Kū Street, Hōkiokio Place, Lahainaluna Road, and Keawe Street. The free right-hand turn lane from Keawe Street onto northbound Honoapiʻilani Highway and the mauka northbound though lane approaching Keawe Street will be re-striped at the time of the opening.

Tie-In Work: 3 Week Closure of Lower Honoapiʻilani Hwy 0.75 Miles South of Kai Hele Kū

The contractor will be constructing the tie-in from Honoapiʻilani Highway to Southern Connector Road that will require the temporary closure of lower Honoapiʻilani Highway three-quarters of a mile south of Kai Hele Kū Street.

This around-the-clock closure is expected to last for approximately three weeks as the tie in to the Southern Connector Road is finalized. Traffic heading south on Honoapiʻilani Highway will need to turn left onto Kai Hele Kū Street to access the Bypass.

Pedestrian access to the beach along lower Honoapiʻilani Highway from Kai Hele Kū Street to the start of the work zone at the Southern Connector will be available during the temporary closure.

Left to Right: Micah Leadford, the Federal Highway Administration 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. PC: Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation.

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. PC: Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation.

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. PC: Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation.

Realigned Honoapiilani Highway Phase 1B-2 from the Southern Connector Road. PC: Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation.

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. Diagram showing the temporary closure. Click to view in detail.

Lahaina Bypass 1b-2.
PC: Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company via Hawaiʻi DOT.