VIDEO: Kuikahi road extension opens linking Wailuku and Kahului

By Wendy Osher

Maui Lani opened a new regional roadway recently connecting Wailuku and Kahului.  The mile-long extension of Kuikahi Drive and Maui Lani Parkway allows drivers to travel from the intersection of Waiale Road and Kuikahi Drive in Wailuku, to Kamehameha Avenue near the Dunes at Maui Lani golf clubhouse in Kahului.

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v80bWPganmE /] The thoroughfare is expected to ease traffic on other roads in Central Maui, and enhance commutes for students and teachers at Pomaikai Elementary School and to Maui Lani’s newest residential subdivision, the Traditions.

In the future the road will service a planned multi-purpose building for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a 27 acre regional park, and the new Maui Lani Village Center, a fee-simple commercial/residential district that broke ground for its first professional buildings in mid-May.

Maui Lani anticipates that the first new buildings at the Maui Lani Village Center will be completed near the end of the year.  Residents can expect new services and offices to open in 2011.  The project’s mixed used nature includes residential components, dental and medical offices, commercial services, gas stations, convenience and grocery stores, and other retail operations.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints closed on its four-acre parcel in Maui Lani last December, and planning is underway to build a 24,000 square foot multi-use building complete with sanctuary, meeting rooms, indoor recreation facilities and a cultural center.

Safety measures on the roadway include a driver feedback speed sign on Maui Lani Parkway as it approaches Kamehameha Avenue, and a flashing beacon stop sign at the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Maui Lani Parkway.  The speed limit is 30 mph.

“Over the past 20 years or so, Maui Lani has grown into a real community with more than a thousand families, wonderful recreational amenities, schools, medical facilities and public goods like this new roadway extension,” said Steve Miller, commercial development manager for Maui Lani. “The Maui Lani Village Center helps fulfill a need for commercial and business amenities to service the 70,000 or so residents who live within a 10-mile radius, and we’re looking forward to welcoming the new church an integral part of the greater Maui Lani community.”