Puʻunēnē Ave. Improvements Project completed ahead of schedule and on budget

A dedication ceremony was held Friday for the Puʻunēnē Avenue Improvements Project in Kahului. The nearly $26 million project, which covered 7/10 of a mile, converted the two lane road into a four lane roadway near the intersection with the Kūihelani Highway, effectively easing congestion and creating a safer, more accessible route.

The improvements include widening Puʻunēnē Avenue (Route 3500) between to four lanes West and East Wākea Avenues and Kuihelani Highway (Route 380). This includes adding dedicated bike lanes, constructing ADA-compliant sidewalks, upgrading drainage, modernizing traffic signals and lighting, and incorporating sustainable landscaping with native drought tolerant plants.

“It’s more than just 7/10 of a mile. Because all of us people from Maui all dread driving on Puʻunēnē Avenue at 4 on any day of the week,” said Mayor Richard Bissen. “This means relief for that—which means people can get to where they need to… I mean, we’ve talked about partnership and engineering and asphalt, but really what it comes down to, is—your lives being made better by this,” he said.

Hawai‘i Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen called the project a small piece that will make a huge impact for the community. “This road runs right to our harbor. It’s the connectivity for our airports… You go right up the hill and get to the junction, [and] you can get to anyplace on Maui from there.”

Transportation officials said the project came in ahead of schedule and on budget, while increasing roadway safety and enhancing freight and vehicle circulation.

“Keeping our communities healthy and safe is one of my top priorities,” said Gov. Green. “The improvements on Puʻunēnē Avenue achieve this by enhancing drainage and creating safer spaces for people to walk and bike. As always, we’re grateful for the support of the Federal Highways Administration and appreciative of the project team for delivering these improvements on time and on budget.”

Gov. Green also spoke to what a project like this means for the community, which is still recovering from the 2023 wildfires and the recent Kona storms. “We’re headed towards three years after the fire, and this may not be the epicenter, but we know it affected the entire island. So without a doubt, it’s a serious, serious time of recovery,” he said.

“We’re gonna keep cranking big projects in the coming 5 to 10 years so that as the bigger schools get done and the housing projects get done, everyone can really recover,” said Green.

Len Dempsey Sr. Vice President of the Heavy Division at Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, Inc., thanked the many hands that worked on the project including subcontractors, the state Department of Transportation and Bowers + Kubota.

He said the recent storms were a big test to the project design as crews faced difficulties in the initial stages in designing a system capable of handling area drainage. “I think everybody would agree that the project came through that very, very well, given the extreme amount of flooding that we saw,” said Dempsey.

The project is a welcome sight for long time residents who have seen the population growth and its impact on island roads, as well as the congestion as traffic merges in Kahului.

“I grew up Upcountry and I went to Maui High. When we first started, there was only a two lane road all the way down. So the bus used to pick you up 6:15 a.m. to get there by 7:45 a.m. Eventually over time we widened Haleakalā Highway, and widened Hāna Highway, widened Dairy Road and build Airport Access Road/Mayor Elmer F. Cravalho Way,” said Robin Shishido, Deputy Director of the Highways Division for the state Department of Transportation. “Now we have this last piece.”

He said partnerships played a key role in completion, including support from the governor, mayor, legislature, contractors, consultants, and ultimately federal highway partners—which provided 80% of funding for the project.

Funding for the project comes from the Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $20.4M and the state, $5.1M.

Shishido said the area now has signage with Hawaiian diacritical markings as part of an ongoing statewide project. The first Maui project to implement the signage was the roundabout in Kīhei.

The new Puʻunene Avenue lanes were opened at 7 a.m., Thursday, April 16. The project broke ground in November 2024.

Contractor for the project was Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company and the designer was Wilson Okamoto Corporation.