Final EIS published for Kūlanihākoʻi High School Pedestrian Overpass across Pi‘ilani Highway

A final environmental impact statement and finding of no significant impact has been completed for the $16 million Pi‘ilani Highway overpass project.

The Hawai‘i Department of Education transmitted the document posted in the May 23 edition of the The Environmental Notice, a publication of the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

The action is a step forward in the official review of the environmental impacts and alternatives for the project to allow safe pedestrian crossings over the highway and a traffic roundabout in Kīhei. The four-lane highway cuts off the new Kūlanihākoʻi High School from student and staff homes on the makai side of the roadway. The project area is about 30,000 square feet.

The project has two 280-feet-long, 10-foot-wide ramps that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ramps are reached via two 7-foot-wide stairways.

The overpass bridge that will span the highway is designed as 140 feet long by 10 feet wide. Contractors plan to use prefabricated concrete to construct the bridge, which will be enclosed to prevent people from jumping or falling off of the overpass.

A draft environmental impact statement was published Feb. 23.

Until the overpass is completed, students attending Kūlanihākoʻi High School are not allowed to cross Piʻilani Highway. They either ride a bus to school or get dropped off and picked up.

The final environmental assessment was prepared by consultant G70.

Project alternatives considered included underpass and overpass options at different locations.

The preferred alternative of an overpass at Kūlanihākoʻi was selected because of its usability, development schedule and cost. It also provided the shortest travel distance for students and families living within a 1.5-mile radius of the school who would be ineligible for bus service to campus.

The preferred alternative also had the most support from attendees at the Kīhei High School Grade-Separated Pedestrian Crossing Alternatives Study open house.

In 2013, the state Land Use Commission set a highway overpass or underpass as a condition of changing the school site’s 77 acres from agricultural to urban land use designation.

Kīhei’s new $250 million Kūlanihākoʻi High School has more than 150 freshmen and sophomores attending classes, with 150 to 180 freshmen expected to be added each school year. Eventually, the school’s enrollment is projected to rise to just under 800 students when the school has all of its 9th- through 12th-grade classes.

The school opened in August after Maui County agreed to issue a temporary certificate of occupancy with an indemnification from the state.

Construction of the overpass is expected to be completed no earlier than the end of 2025.