Kona road qualifies for $40 million

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAILUA, Hawai'i — The county has met a July planning deadline for the Ali'i Highway project in Kona, qualifying for $40 million from the federal government.

The money will be used for the 2.5-mile first phase from Keauhou to Lako Street, south of Kailua. The Federal Highways Administration is putting up 80 percent of the project's cost, with Hawai'i County responsible for the balance.

The cost of the second phase, an additional two miles to Kailua, has not been disclosed.

The long-discussed route is proceeding despite legal and cultural hurdles that have included negotiations with landowners over condemnation of properties along the road alignment and adjustments to accommodate Hawaiian burial sites and other cultural issues.

The archaeology of the area "may be the most studied ever," said county consultant Nancy Burns.

The new route will be straighter and safer than the coastal Ali'i Drive, which will remain open. However, the highway will be only two lanes instead of four, as previously planned. Jogging paths and bicycle lanes and a planted median strip have been added to the plan.

Burns said work might begin in the first quarter of 2003 if the bidding process is concluded this fall. Construction will take about 18 months.

Planning for the second phase is considered to be 90 percent complete.

The two-stage Ali'i Highway, which some are now calling Ali'i Parkway, eventually will link up with a 5-mile road being constructed by the Hokuli'a luxury residential development at a cost of $25 million under a development agreement with the county. That road will bypass Mamalahoa Highway and run south of Keauhou to Captain Cook.

"It will make a substantial difference in Kona travel," said Burns of the two new highway additions.