Ask the Mayor: When Will Door of Faith Road Be Repaired?

Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the questions submitted to his staff. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column. Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa at (808) 270-7855,  AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov  or mail them to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Dear Mayor,

Q: Many of my neighbors and I have asked Maui County at meetings and other avenues when we can expect Door of Faith Road in Ha‘ikū to be repaired.

The county used to maintain it to the Hawaiian church. We get tourist traffic to that church and the neighbors have been filling in the potholes for years.

There is no plan or budget set aside for our road with hundreds of residents.

Can you please help us? We need to get to and from our homes and the potholes are beyond anything the residents can repair. We beg you!

Please come drive our road and see how bad it is. I will make you a cake for taking the trip to the country.

We are a nice road full of great neighbors. We pay our taxes and all we ask is for the county to fix several hundred feet of road. It is only really bad from the highway to the Hawaiian church (where we get the most public traffic).

Will the county ever fix or maintain our little road? Please make us a priority.

A: Thank you for the offer of cake, but I’m afraid I have bad news. According to the Maui County Public Works Department, the ownership of Door of Faith Road in Huelo is actually partially private and partially state-owned.

Under previous administrations, the Public Works Highways Division was directed to maintain a portion of the road since the Door of Faith Church once served as a polling location. The church is no longer a polling place and the department adheres strictly to the policy of only maintaining roads the county is responsible for; this is especially true under current budget constraints.

While your road is indeed in fair to poor condition for a rural minor road, the county must use the limited funds for Capital Improvement Programs and pavement preservation projects for the many county-maintained roads, bridges and slope stability areas in East Maui that are in need of attention.

I would suggest you contact your state representative or Senator for assistance in working with the state for the repairs needed.