Quietly for over a year, Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste has been working with various governmental entities and private landowners with the intent of establishing emergency roadways, mostly on former sugar cane-haul roads.
The first partnership to yield an actual route has developed, and last week county workers began improving a cane-haul road between Wailua and Hanama‘ulu to be used during Kuhio Highway emergencies such as accidents, natural disasters and hazardous-materials spills.
Similar right-of-entry agreements have already been reached for other former cane-haul roads, from Koloa to Lihu‘e, and in other areas, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer.
Plans are currently being made for repair and maintenance work on those roads, she said.
The Eastside partnership involves the county, state Department of Transportation Highways Division, state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and Grove Farm.
The road is a former cane-haul road beginning just south of the Wailua River mauka of Kuhio Highway near the entrance to the Aloha Beach Resort. It links back up with Kuhio Highway near the Roberts Hawaii Tours baseyard in Hanama‘ulu.
When Baptiste took office nearly 16 months ago, one of the first projects he began looking into was the possibility of using former cane-haul roads on various parts of the island for emergency routes, said Ozaki.
Along with many other people in the community, Baptiste expressed concern that Kuhio Highway, the only roadway between Kapa‘a and Hanama‘ulu, many times had been made impassable due to traffic accidents or natural disasters.
He was also aware of an ordinance allowing county officials to enter into agreements with leaders of non-county entities to establish emergency roadways, although provisions of that ordinance had never been utilized.
He tasked leaders of the County Attorney, Public Works and Police departments with creating and establishing these alternate routes.
Those involved say the process has at times been long and arduous.
Police and Public Works personnel first took steps to determine accident-prone areas, and where traffic backup seemed to occur.
Alternate routes that were cost-effective — pathways in existence versus building new roadways, for example — were then identified.
At that point, property owners were contacted to make initial inquiries of usage possibilities.
According to County Attorney Lani Nakazawa, all the parties involved were all extremely cooperative.
Public Works and KPD personnel were allowed to visually inspect and drive the road to determine if usage as an emergency route was feasible.
Along with leaders of the state DOT Highways Division, county Department of Public Works Road Division officials did a survey of what repair and maintenance work needed to be done, while KPD officials concurrently developed a plan on how traffic would be handled should an emergency arise and the cane-haul road be opened.
Nakazawa said it was a long process that involved mapping, examining, and extensive negotiating.
“It was a challenge,” she said. “But with cooperation from the property owners, Governor (Linda) Lingle, (DHHL director) Micah Kane and others from the state, we were able to start the repair and maintenance work on March 22.”
A right-of-entry agreement was reached with both officials from DHHL and Grove Farm, who each own part of the cane-haul road.
“This project has been all about partnerships,” said Baptiste. “The willingness of the state and Grove Farm to work together with the county has created a partnership to get this done for the people of Kaua‘i,” he said
Steve Kyono, state DOT Highways Division district engineer, said the need has existed for such an emergency route for at least a decade, and the solution was made possible because of the good working relationship state officials have with Baptiste and other county employees.
“This effort is a good example and clear indication of the commitment we’ve made to work together,” Kyono said.
Kane said similar agreements had been pursued by previous administrations, but none had come to fruition until now.
“Governor Lingle has directed us to work with the County of Kaua‘i for the greatest benefit of Kaua‘i residents,” Kane said. “The county’s partnership with the state and its various agencies has yielded great results, and will continue to do so.”
David Pratt, Grove Farm president and chief executive officer, said use of the cane-haul road between Wailua and Hanama‘ulu for emergency purposes “makes sense.”
He indicated that cane-haul roads are often parallel to main roads or highways, and the Eastside route is “there and available.
“We’ve been working with the county for some time to get these agreements squared away,” Pratt said. “It seems like it’s progressing.”
Work on the cane-haul road from Hanama‘ulu to Wailua is expected to be completed by Friday, April 2, and the road will be ready for use during times of emergency after completion, Ozaki said.
In Honolulu, two resolutions introduced by state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, were referred yesterday to the Senate Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations Committee.
The resolutions direct DOT Highways Division officials to look at the possibility of using cane-haul roads not just for emergency purposes, but for relief of everyday traffic congestion as well.
