Rockslide revives Makapu'u project
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By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — A rock slide at Makapu'u Point early yesterday has area residents calling for the state to fast-track a project that would protect motorists from falling debris.
The state Department of Transportation said it would investigate that option, but other issues might affect the project.
"In light of today's (rockslide), we'll look at it and see if there's anything we can do to speed it up," said Marilyn Kali, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman. "I'm not sure about the funding, if it's available this fiscal year or next fiscal year."
Kali said she wasn't sure how the project would proceed, as issues unrelated to the rockslide had arisen. The highway right-of-way is being questioned, and the department is trying to determine where it is, she said.
"Until that's resolved, I'm not sure how we're going to proceed."
Gov. Ben Cayetano said erecting heavy fencing might mar the scenic drive. But he called for action nevertheless.
"We need to exert every reasonable effort to try to determine where these things might happen, and if they do happen, make sure that we take steps to ensure public safety," he said.
Wilson Ho, Waimanalo Neighborhood Board chairman, said the situation at Makapu'u added to community frustration.
The state owns a failing wastewater treatment plant in the community and has done nothing for years to fix it, Ho said.
A canoe halau, traffic-calming project, concrete curbs and left-hand turns all have been promised but not completed, he said. "It's like we're a stepsister to whoever is more important than us."
After years of begging for protection, the Waimanalo community was told in April that the state would create a plan to stabilize the hillside at Makapu'u and install a protective fence along Kalaniana'ole Highway.
Kali said the plan was being designed, but she didn't know when it would be built.
Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo), said he thought it would be next spring. Others say they have been told January.
Not knowing has people on edge in light of yesterday's slide, and they want the work done sooner rather than later, said Andrew Jamila Jr., a Waimanalo resident and neighborhood board member.
"It's a safety factor," Jamila said. "We needed the fence up yesterday."
The state hauled a truckload of debris from Makapu'u yesterday, most of it small, Kali said, with a few rocks about two feet across.
The debris was cleared by 7:30 a.m. But a geologist determined that loose rocks could continue falling, so the road remained closed until 3 p.m. as a crew pulled the material out, Kali said.
Makapu'u was like a ghost town, Jamila said after seeing the slide later in the day. Sea Life Park reported a sales loss as high as 60 percent by early afternoon, and Naturally Hawaiian Gallery and Gifts said sales were down by half.
Residents heading to Hawai'i Kai for work and school were forced to commute through the Pali Tunnels, adding to morning rush-hour traffic. Ho said he left for his Hawai'i Kai office after 8:30 a.m. and got to work in 45 minutes, a trip that normally takes 10 minutes.
While everyone wants the project done, the general manager of Sea Life Park, Wayne Nielsen, said he could wait until January for work to begin, the date mentioned at meetings he has attended. Business would be slow in January, and that would minimize losses, Nielsen said.
"For them to do the repair in the summer would be like repairing Ala Moana during Christmas," he said. "It would be so devastating on my business, I wouldn't be able to survive."
Hemmings, R-25th District (Kailua, Waimanalo), who helped initiate the project, called the rockslide a wakeup call, and said he was urging everyone to cooperate in completing the project.
"We can't afford to procrastinate or delay any further," Hemmings said. "We can't afford a catastrophe cave-in that results in long-term closing. It would devastate the tourist industry and the Waimanalo community in particular."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.
