Līloa Dr. extension in Kīhei, Maui gets $25M in federal funds, two more roundabouts planned

A federal grant of $25,000,000 has been secured for the Līloa Drive Phase I extension in Kīhei on Maui as part of Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda. The project will extend Līloa Drive by 2,900 lineal feet and a project description notes the addition of two more roundabouts to the South Maui community.

According to the US Department of Transportation, roundabouts will be constructed at Līloa intersections with Kūlanihāko‘i Street and Waipu‘ilani Road. There is already a roundabout further south at the Līloa Drive / Piʻikea Avenue intersection, and one at the Piʻilani Highway intersection with Kūlanihāko‘i Street fronting the new high school.

Transportation officials say the extension of Līloa Drive and its integrated shared-use path, allows for more affordable transportation options like biking and walking.

The extension features a two-lane roadway with curbs, gutters, sidewalks, shared-use path, retaining walls, streetlights, related utility system improvements, landscaping and a new bridge crossing.

The USDOT reports that in addition to economic benefits, the project will help residents with increased access to jobs, healthcare, grocery stores, schools, places of worship and recreation.

The project will create a redundancy, providing an alternative route “away from climate hazard areas.”

It is one of two community-led infrastructure projects in Hawaiʻi that received grant awards today from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program funds. The other project involves the construction of a 300-foot pedestrian and bicycle crossing bridge at the Ala Wai Canal on Oʻahu. That project also received $25,000,000.

The funding was announced today by US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, as part of the RAISE discretionary grant program. The grants aim to grow the American economy “from the bottom up and middle-out,” by driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to “creating good-paying jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.”   

“Using the funds in President Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” said Transportation Secretary Buttigieg. “This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more.”   

The full list of projects can be viewed here.