#national guard hana highway

The Hāna Highway checkpoint will be terminated when the extended closure expires at the end of today, according to Maui Mayor Michael Victorino. According to the Mayor, the checkpoints at both Twin Falls and ʻUlupalakua Ranch will not have National Guard or Maui Police Department presence starting tomorrow.

The Governor has granted a two-week extension to the County of Maui to keep a checkpoint in place along the Hāna Highway between Kapakalua Road and Hāna Town.  The checkpoint will remain in place through at least July 15th, limiting traffic to residents amid ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

County officials say the checkpoint will remain in place for today while they await the governor’s response. Lawmakers continue to work on a traffic management plan for the Hāna Highway and are proposing a reservation system for key destinations along the highway like Waiʻānapanapa State Park, to mitigate traffic concerns in the rural community.

Governor David Ige said troops would be able to return and the state would be able to extend National Guard presence at the traffic checkpoints until July. “I think we all can agree that we don’t want to return to what it was before COVID-19; and we would like to come up with a plan to figure out how to best manage the Hāna Highway–and then also the Piʻilani Highway on the back side,” said Sen. English.

The reduction in force from 200 individuals last week to around 100 individuals next week has already started. Mayor Victorino said troops will continue to man the checkpoint along the Hāna Highway, which was put in place to restrict traffic to residential motorists only in an effort to protect one of Maui’s rural communities from infection.