Kaua'i acquires emergency route

Advertiser Staff

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The county, state and landowners have arranged for an emergency route on former Lihu'e Plantation cane roads, to bypass the Wailua Golf Course and Nukoli'i areas when an accident or natural disaster blocks Kuhio Highway.

The heavily traveled, low-lying area has deep ditches on both sides of the highway along much of its length fronting the golf course and Kaua'i Community Correctional Center. Traffic accidents and hazardous material spills can close the road, and there had been no alternative route.

The corridor links the island's dense, residential Kapa'a-Wailua region with the urban core at Lihu'e.

Mayor Bryan Baptiste said he had worked with the state Highways Division and the landowners — the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Grove Farm — to arrange for the access. "This project has been all about partnerships," Baptiste said.

The county started work on the route on March 22, clearing and repairing the cane road that runs mauka of the highway from near the Aloha Beach Resort along the Wailua River to the Robert's Hawai'i Tours facility near Hanama'ulu. The work was scheduled to be done this week.

The road will be used only in emergencies, when the highway is blocked.