Kolekole Pass open for defense workers
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
As post-9/11 terrorism concerns on Hawai'i military bases have waned, Kolekole Pass — a favorite shortcut through the Wai'anae range for the military — has again been reopened for defense personnel, but not the public.
Advertiser library photo • 1983
The twisting route, constructed by the Army's 3rd Engineers in 1937 across a low spot in the mountain range, and frequently mistaken for the Japanese attack route on Dec. 7, 1941, traverses Lualualei Naval Reservation and Schofield Barracks.
The Kolekole Pass road remains closed to the public.
For years, some residents have called for the four-mile road to be opened as an alternative to Farrington Highway, the only access to the Wai'anae Coast and frequent site of traffic jams and accidents that sometimes close the roadway.
But because of security concerns, the Navy said it plans to keep Kolekole Pass closed to the public.
"Lualualei is an ammunition depot, and it's used by both Navy and Army," said Navy Region Hawai'i spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan. "It's a Navy installation — I know the Army has different procedures and I can't speak to that — but as such, (Lualualei) is not open to the public."
According to defense contractor BAE Systems, Lualualei occupies 8,195 acres and has 255 above-ground magazines with a storage capacity of 78,000 short tons of ammunition and explosives.
The road's two gates had been closed to the military since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Army and Navy recently agreed to open them for military traffic from 5:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., seven days a week, Tauyan said.
"It's good news for the people who work on post, for example our (Defense Department) employees," said Capt. Juanita Chang, a Schofield Barracks spokeswoman.
The move also coincides with greater base access at Schofield Barracks with the relatively low terrorism threat level of "Alpha."
The rating is one stop above "Normal," which applies when there is no discernible terrorist activity. "Normal" is followed by Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta.
Although there has been the call to open Kolekole Pass, which has an access from Wai'anae Valley and Lualualei Naval roads, Albert H. Silva, who lives in Kea'au and is vice chairman of the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board, said the Kolekole Pass road was at one time declared unsafe, and there are no retaining catchments for rockslides.
Silva worked at the ammunition depot and in Wahiawa, and he said driving Farrington Highway around to Kunia and then Wahiawa was only a slightly longer trip than driving the Kolekole Pass.
"The time savings for me then was only a few minutes, and when I heard about the hazards, I'd rather not go through there," Silva said. "The gain, to me, was only, say, if it was an emergency."
The Navy periodically makes Kolekole Pass available to the public, as was the case in July 2003 when a police officer and a child were killed and five other people were injured in a head-on collision that closed all four lanes of Farrington Highway.
Officials said military IDs will be checked randomly on the pass, and new signs prohibit stopping on the road, except at a lookout or in case of emergency.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
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