Traffic safety concerns at lava tube assessed

Transportation officials are assessing safety concerns at a Big Island lava tube, which residents say has become an increasingly popular tourist destination.

The Huehue lava tube is on the mountain side of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway about 2 miles north of the Kona airport, West Hawaii Today reported Tuesday.

Visitors park along both sides of the road and cross the highway, sometimes creating an unsafe environment as traffic passes through the 55 mph zone. With the closures of the main area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and other popular sites because of the Kilauea volcano, the lava tube appears to be busier.

“It’s getting progressively worse in a rapid period of time,” resident Dolena Brand said. “In a couple of months, it went from a couple cars to 30, 40, 50 and just it keeps climbing.”

Kona-area residents driving on the road have reported near misses with visitors crossing the highway or cars pulling onto the road.

“It’s a safety hazard,” Kona resident David Baldwin said. “I’ve had children walking across the highway; people doing U-turns. They just walk across the street like it’s a park, and I just can’t believe it.”

Despite residents’ complaints, the state Department of Transportation said it was unaware of a possible safety issue at the site until it was contacted by the newspaper last month.

“Our preliminary crash data and complaint logs did not show this area of the highway as a safety concern, but we will coordinate with HPD and investigate your report of illegal U-turns and unsafe stopping and parking in our jurisdiction,” said Shelly Kunishige, a department spokeswoman.

If the department determines the situation is dangerous, it will consider installing new signage prohibiting certain activities, she said.

Warrants served in officer shooting

Hawaii island police have served bench warrants on six of seven people named in grand jury indictments related to the fatal shooting of officer Bronson Kaliloa in July.

Each is accused of assisting the alleged shooter, Justin Waiki, while he was on the run from police. A man and two women were at large when they were picked up. Two other women and a man were already in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo.

MAUI

Humpback whale bones returned to sea

The bones of a juvenile humpback whale that had been displayed in Hawaii for more than 30 years were returned to the sea last week.

The Maui News reports the whale that became beached on Kahoolawe in January 1986 was returned to the waters off that coast in a ceremony recognizing Native Hawaiian cultural practices.

The Pacific Whale Foundation had reconstructed the skeleton to display in an exhibit. It was later transferred to the Bishop Museum, which displayed it at the Hawaii Maritime Center until it closed in 2009.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has authority for the retention of marine mammal parts, authorized the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission to coordinate efforts for the bones to be respectfully returned to the ocean.