$6 million more needed for Makapu'u rockfall site
| • | 66 O'ahu rockfall sites identified as high-risk |
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
WAIMANALO — A $1.5 million project to protect motorists from falling rocks at Makapu'u Point was completed just this week, but yesterday state officials announced plans to spend an additional $6 million to further stabilize the hillside, which a new study rates the most hazardous rockfall site on O'ahu.
The state plans to reconstruct a portion of the retaining wall between the two lookouts at Makapu'u Point, address loose material collecting there on the mauka side of Kalaniana'ole Highway and possibly repave the road, according to Department of Transportation officials.
The just-finished project at Makapu'u, consisting of a wire- mesh screen hung over 19,400 square yards of hillside, is a temporary fix, according to DOT director Rod Haraga, who said the state will apply for federal money for a permanent solution — which could be a tunnel.
In all, it could cost as much as $17 million to address problems on the hillside overlooking Makapu'u Beach.
"Consultants will do a feasibility study to tell us which is the best alternative," Haraga said yesterday in announcing the completion of the Makapu'u Emergency Rockslide Project.
"I want to make sure the state gets the best benefit for its buck."
Concerns by citizens that the road at Makapu'u is weakening are unfounded, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman. But the state will fix cracks in the pavement, he said.
"Engineers did a preliminary inspection and didn't find it unstable," Ishikawa said.
Waimanalo resident Andrew Jamila Jr. said he's satisfied with the temporary fix and was pleased that the state has recognized the dangerous situation at Makapu'u in a study ranking rockfall hazards above O'ahu's roads. Now the state can correct the problem before there's a catastrophe there, Jamila said.
Jamila, a Waimanalo Neighborhood Board member, said loose material collecting behind barriers across the road from the lower lookout should be the state's No. 1 concern at Makapu'u, especially because truckloads of debris had to be removed from the highway last year.
One big rain could bring down 400 yards of silt, sand and rocks, he said, noting that huge rocks are collecting behind the barrier.
"They have to do something," Jamila said.
"Either cut it back or bring it down or excavate the mass that's falling."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
