Tour Bus Access Route Planned At Haleakala National Park

Accessibility improvements are planned at Maui’s Haleakala National Park and Molokai’s Kakahaia National Wildlife Refuge.

The Maui project will get funding for the planning and design of an accessible route for tour bus passengers along Kuloa Point within the Haleakala National Park boundaries.  Funding for the Molokai project will go towards paving the entrance road to Kakahaia National Wildlife Refuge.

Congresswoman Mazie Hirono announced funding for the projects today.  The design and construction work is made possible through a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Public Lands Highway Discretionary Program.  Funds are being used for a total of six projects throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Other projects include:

• Various improvements including paving, drainage, and stabilizing a retaining wall at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai
• Plan and design for rehabilitation of two miles of Mauna Loa Road as well as improvements for pedestrians at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii
• Rehabilitate the paved secondary roadway entrance to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park on Hawaii and re-gravel a parking area that serves the Park; and
• Provide parking/traffic flow and pedestrian safety at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai

Established in 1930, the Public Lands Highway Discretionary Program is intended to improve access to and within the Federal lands of the nation, such as forest highways, public land highways, Indian reservation roads, park road and parkways, and refuge roads.  The PLHD program works to ensure a connected system of roads that serve local, regional, and national needs by providing resources to each of the land management agencies responsible for the 590,000 miles of public roads and highways across America.

(Posted by Wendy Osher; Supporting information provided by the office of Congresswoman Mazie Hirono)