Drivers cautioned about rock hazard at Makapu'u
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — Two warnings went out yesterday to motorists who travel Kalaniana'ole Highway where work is under way to prevent more rocks from falling from the cliffs above Makapu'u Beach. Both carried the same message: Beware.
One warning was issued by a man whose windshield was shattered by a falling rock Sunday afternoon. He called for the closure of the road until the protective fence is built and the project is complete.
The other came from the general manager of subcontractor Prometheus Construction. He advised drivers to avoid the area during heavy rain that could further erode the cliffs and loose rocks onto the road below.
"I would not recommend driving this road during or just after a rainstorm," Cliff Tillotson said.
Rock removal is expected to be completed today, with work suspended for this holiday weekend and the road opened beginning tomorrow.
The project called for removing rocks and boulders, said Tillotson, and many golf-ball-sized rocks are left on the cliff's many shelves. Some of these rocks are held in place only by dirt, he said, "so until the mesh is up, my feeling is if it's raining, not to drive the road."
Tillotson said he believes the road is "real safe" otherwise, but Al Schafer, 44, of Kailua, disagrees with that assessment.
Schafer, whose car was struck by a 2-pound rock that fell from the cliffs Sunday as he drove toward Hawai'i Kai, said the state and the contractor should at least post signs telling people that the area is under construction and to travel at their own risk.
It was not raining at the time of the incident.
"It might be better for the short term to go ahead and close it until they get it completely finished," Schafer said, adding that he was aware of the financial setbacks suffered by Waimanalo businesses because the work has required closing the road eight hours a day during prime business hours since Nov. 6.
Schafer said he was concerned that people were perhaps hiking above the project and that the contractor may not be doing a thorough job of clearing all debris before leaving the site.
He said the accident left his wife covered in glass and shaken.
She travels to Hawai'i Kai every day to run their business, Island Treasures at the Marina in Koko Marina Shopping Center, and now, "we're considering whether it's worthwhile to go the extra 10 miles over the Pali," he said.
Neither the contractor nor the state Department of Transportation could say why the rock fell.
Hikers might have kicked the rock off or it could have just fallen, said DOT spokeswoman Marilyn Kali. She called it an isolated incident.
"We know the contractor did not finish clearing a certain area, but we wanted to get the road reopened because it was time," Kali said. "We allowed them to stop working, but we don't know exactly what happened."
The road closes each day at 8:30 a.m. and is supposed to reopen at 4:30 p.m.
Closing the road entirely until the project is completed would be ideal, Kali said, but that is not an option that the community favored when the project was discussed earlier this year.
"We don't have any reason to believe additional rocks will fall," she said.
The work crew will return Monday to prepare the cliff for the mesh. The subcontractor will begin hanging the mesh the week of Dec. 9, according to the DOT.
No lane closures are scheduled until then.
During the week of Dec. 9-13, there will be intermittent 20-minute closures while the mesh is put in place by helicopter.
During the week of Dec. 16-20, one lane of Kalaniana'ole Highway between the lower and upper Makapu'u lookouts will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. while the netting is secured.
Traffic will move over the remaining lane, alternating directions.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
