Posted on: Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Puna road dispute settled ... for now
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — A dispute between the county and residents of the 'Ainaloa subdivision over an emergency access road that passes through two Puna subdivisions came to a head yesterday, with both sides agreeing to a temporary closure of the route except for public safety purposes.
Although the county spent $2 million establishing the emergency bypass linking Highway 11, known as the Hawai'i Belt Road, with Highway 130 two years ago, it has never formally taken control of the road.
And while the road has made it easier for police, fire and ambulance services to move between Upper and Lower Puna, it has also invited increased traffic and speeders.
Concerned about liability and frustrated over county delays in accepting the road, 'Ainaloa Community Association leaders last month threatened to use boulders to shut off access from neighboring Hawaiian Acres. They agreed to postpone the action at the request of Mayor Harry Kim.
But the matter remains unresolved, and Monday, the association installed gateposts at the end of 'Ainaloa Boulevard with the intent of putting in a locked gate. That move caused tempers to flare between those who want the road closed and those who want it to remain open.
Police from Kea'au were summoned twice to the site where concrete was being poured for the gateposts, and a report was filed for an alleged assault involving a "push and shove" incident, said Capt. Elroy Osorio Jr.
'Ainaloa Community Association President Bill Coney maintains that in the absence of official county control, the bypass is private property, as are all the streets in the subdivision.
"We own it. It's private property and we can close it, and that's what we are doing," he said prior to a telephone discussion with Kim, county attorneys and community leaders that led to yesterday's memorandum of understanding allowing a road closure (except for emergency services) for 91 days, effective Monday.
