WAIMEA — A permanent fix for the Waimea Bay rockslide that blocked the only road through the North Shore could take four to five months, but the state is planning temporary repairs that will allow the two-lane highway to fully open within two to three weeks.

Today, the state will again contra-flow one lane from 4 to 8:30 a.m. and in the afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m. By tomorrow, the state plans to operate the contraflow full time until both lanes can be reopened.

The Saturday rockslide was bigger than the Sacred Falls slide in 1999 when 30 cubic yards of boulders and debris came crashing down, said Barry Fukunaga, director for the state Department of Transportation.

About 70 truckloads of debris had been removed from Saturday's fall as of yesterday, Fukunaga said.

The permanent repair, including the replacement of a damaged fence with the same material, will take four to five months, Fukunaga said. The fence material must be custom-ordered from the Mainland.

A temporary fence will suffice until the permanent fence can be installed, Fukunaga said.

AREA CONSIDERED SAFE

By the end of the workday yesterday, Fukunaga said the area was determined safe by consultant Earth Tech, which conducted an assessment of the Waimea site.

"They're real comfortable and confident that things have stabilized," Fukunaga said. "By what fell and the scaling work that took place, it relieves a lot of the pressures that built up and caused those boulders to come down. So right now the face is stabilized."

Fukunaga didn't offer an estimate on how much the repairs would cost.

The 2000 project to install a fence and realign the road so it was farther from the cliff cost the state $7.5 million. Other rockfall protective projects ranged from $5.8 million in Kailua and $10 million for the second phase at Makapu'u Point.

The critical thing is getting the temporary fencing up because that's going to restore normal service as far as usability of the roadway," Fukunaga said. "After that, we can work with the road open."

CONTRAFLOW SMOOTH

Morning and afternoon contraflow traffic moved smoothly through Waimea Bay yesterday. The rest of the day, you could get through only by bicycle or on foot.

Some businesses reported losing as much as 50 percent in sales while others said they were not affected.

A few people thought it might be good for the community.

"(With the closure) we go back about 20 years in time and put the country back in the country," said John Lane, part owner of vacation rental business Sharks Cove Rental. Lane said residents were reaching out to one another after the slide trying to figure out how to get around, and that was positive.

Business at Starbucks Coffee in Pupukea Foodland hasn't changed much, according to Mata Djajadi, except for a surge of customers just before the end of the morning contraflow. They wanted to get their coffee before heading out; other than that the day was "mellow," Djajadi said.

"The really nice part about it is watching people ride their bicycles around and walking because I think being Hawai'i, we should be more of a green state and it's really too bad we don't have more bicycles," Djajadi said.

BUSINESS UP, DOWN

At Sharks Cove Grill, business picked up because people had come to the end of the road and decided to dine, but a restaurant at the Waimea Valley Audubon Center didn't do as well, said Haley Baldwin, a server at the restaurant.

"We had a big Easter turnout, too, but our other business in Waimea Valley lost about 50 percent of their customers," Baldwin said.

The Grass Skirt Grill in Hale'iwa also reported a brisk business yesterday, but Growing Keiki said business was off Sunday and yesterday.

Marilyn Koch, a salesclerk there, said she thought when people heard about the road closure, they decided to stay away. A friend who works at a sports rental shop also said business was slow, she said. Growing Keiki sales were down by at least 50 percent, Koch said.

"Even the postman said that everything is really slow in Hale'iwa," she said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.