State to build two parking lots at Makapu'u
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
The state is moving ahead with plans to build a 20-stall parking lot at the Makapu'u lookout next year.
The work is part of a $4 million project to improve scenic vistas and transportation facilities in the Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline area fronting Kalaniana'ole Highway from Sandy Beach to Makapu'u.
The popular Makapu'u lookout area, which now has room for about six vehicles, will be reconfigured to allow safer access, better viewing and a new 20-stall parking lot, said Mike Markrich, spokesman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which is coordinating the work with the Department of Transportation.
A separate 40-stall lot will be built about halfway down the hill toward Hawai'i Kai to provide parking for those using a popular hiking trail to the Makapu'u lighthouse, state officials said. That lot will be connected to Kalaniana'ole Highway via new access roads with acceleration and deceleration lanes.
The new parking area is expected to ease safety problem with hikers who now park along the shoulder of the road.
The state earlier this year finished work on the first increment of the project, which consisted of putting utility lines underground and installing a new guardrail along the highway.
Construction of the project's second phase has been pushed back till August 2003 and is expected to be finished by the end of 2004, said Glenn Yasui, the Transportation Department's highways administrator. The project will be paid for by federal Transportation Enhancement money, which are available for projects that improve scenic vistas and related areas.
The plans initially met with community concern, but the state scaled back the work to make it less visually obtrusive.
The projects will include landscaping and contouring of the ground around the parking areas, Yasui said.
