WAILUA — Starting Sept. 30, there is going to be a gate across Loop Road, the public access road to the Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve.
That gate will be closed Monday through Friday, and its installment is timed with the beginning of a $500,000 road-repair project expected to take three to six months to complete.
The project is meant to return the road to its condition prior to the April 2018 floods that caused heavy damage, according to the state Department of Lands and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife on Kauai.
The decision was announced after DOFAW director Sheri Mann met with about 20 community members in early September to discuss the ongoing closure and trench that was recently dug across the road.
The idea for a gate came straight from community members at that meeting. It was generated from conversations between them, Mann and County Councilmember Felicia Cowden about how to regulate illegal activity and promote safety along the road that’s known to be treacherous at times.
Construction is being done by local company Wa‘alani Enterprises.
“In the next couple weeks, contractors will begin preparing a staging area for material and equipment off Kuamoo Road,” DLNR representatives said in a statement about the gate. “A gate will be installed just after the Powerline Trail on Loop Road.”
That is the location where DOFAW dug a deep trench and placed large boulders across the road in August. Less than a week after that roadblock was created, community members filled in the trench and removed the boulders. DOFAW hasn’t recreated the trench since, and Mann apologized at the Sept. 8 meeting for the action, explaining it was an intuitive reaction to a situation she and her staff deemed dangerous.
The problem is that Wa‘alani Enterprises will be using and storing heavy — and expensive — equipment along Loop Road. That could present a danger to vehicles and pedestrians in their path, and a concern about vandalism when workers aren’t around.
DLNR says the gate is meant to protect equipment and the public’s safety.
“The major concern during the period of road-repair work is the safety of the public and the contractors. Therefore, the gate will remain closed from Monday to Friday during the construction period,” DLNR said in their statement.
“We understand the relationship that the community has with the area and agree it would be beneficial to have the road open on the weekends for the public. However, during the construction period, if there is vandalism or destruction to newly repaired sections, DOFAW will have to close the gate on weekends as to not hinder the progress of the repairs.”
During the September meeting, Kauai resident Noa Mau-Espirito, who is involved in a hui that is cultivating lo‘i in the area of Loop Road, told DOFAW they would not allow construction to begin on the project unless Wa‘alani Enterprises consulted with them directly — they described concerns their taro lo‘i would be threatened by construction.
Friday, DLNR said DOFAW met with the hui regarding the matter.
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
