Honuaʻula Partners seeking design review of Piʻilani Highway widening project

Honuaʻula Partners will go before the Urban Design Review Board on May 6 for a design review of its project plans for widening a portion of Piʻilani Highway from two to four lanes in Kīhei.

The board’s design review is a preliminary step before taking the $48 million highway improvement project before the Maui Planning Commission for a special management area permit application. The board’s design recommendation will be submitted to the commission as part of its decision-making process.

The highway widening project from Kilohana to Wailea Ike drives has been part of the debate of Honuaʻula Partners’ master-planned community, a longtime, hotly debated 670-acre development south of Maui Meadows and mauka of Piʻilani Highway. Another hot button is the proposed removal of 450 affordable units from the project.

During a Maui Planning Commission meeting in March, a much-discussed point was whether the developer, or the state Department of Transportation in its stead, should be required to complete the roadway improvements before workforce housing units are built; or whether construction could proceed and home occupancy allowed only after the highway project is finished.

The commission recessed its meeting in March without making a final decision on its recommendations to the Maui County Council on proposed changes to the Honuaʻula project district zoning conditions. The Council will make the final call on whether to change project district ordinance conditions, as requested, for the project to move forward.

With the developer now proposing 1,150 total units, the minimum required workforce housing would be 230 units. The developer has pledged to construct at least 288 workforce units, exceeding the minimum by 58 homes.

Last year, the Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee, chaired by Council Member Tasha Kama, also made key revisions. Those included requiring all residential workforce units to be built on-site and capping the total number of units at 1,150, down from the previously approved 1,400. Additionally, Bill 171 removed references to 450 affordable units in the Kīhei-Mākena Project District 9 ordinance. The bill also eliminated provisions for a golf course and related facilities, instead incorporating cultural and educational centers as permitted uses.

According to a project overview prepared by planning consultant Munekiyo Hiraga, the proposed Pi‘ilani Highway widening improvement corridor has three intersections: (1) Kilohana Drive/Mapu Place; (2) Okolani Drive/Mikioi Place; and (3) Wailea Ike Drive, which turns makai toward the Wailea Resort.

Project plans call for widening Pi‘ilani Highway from two to four lanes from approximately 1,000 feet north of Kilohana Drive/Mapu Place intersection to its terminus at Wailea Ike Drive.

Proposed improvements include excavation and embankment work, widening of the road with asphaltic concrete pavement, construction of concrete curbs, gutters, sidewalks, drainage systems, stormwater retention systems, retaining walls, sound attenuation walls, relocation of electrical transmission lines, replacement of utility poles, guard rails, installation of utilities (as necessary), and adjustments to existing utilities. The latter involves the relocation of existing waterlines, (as necessary). In addition, north- and south-bound shoulder bikeways will be added.

Other project work includes reconstruction of the existing traffic signals at the Kilohana Drive/Mapu Place and the Okolani Drive/Mikioi Place highway intersections. After construction, affected landscaping will be restored.

After getting all needed permits and land rights, construction of the highway widening project is expected to take 18 to 24 months.