Honoapiilani Highway reopens after rockfall assessment; closures resume Tuesday
COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
A rockfall on Saturday along Honoapiilani Highway at mile marker 36.5.
A local access restriction imposed on Maui’s Honoapiilani Highway was lifted as of 11:30 a.m. this morning, but the State Department of Transportation says the closure will be reinstated starting Tuesday.
The highway was closed “out of an abundance of caution” following two separate incidents of falling rocks on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, rocks were reported on Honoapiilani Highway/Kahekili Highway past the Nakalele Point Light Station at mile marker 39.5. Additional rockfalls on Honoapiilani Highway at mile marker 36.5 (Honokohau Valley) were reported Saturday.
HDOT crews and a local contractor inspected the highway between mile markers 36.5 and 41 today; the DOT says field work will continue to clean the slopes. Rock scaling will also be done to remove boulders and loosened rocks from areas above the highway.
The state says approximately 10 sites will be targeted by the work, starting at mile marker 41 and heading toward Lahaina. Crews will be working along the highway from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays starting Tuesday until the project is complete.
Motorists are reminded that only local traffic will be allowed between Fleming Beach and Camp Maluhia. In addition, residents traveling in the area will be subject to intermittent complete closures of the highway as rocks are dislodged and removed; closures will last approximately 15 minutes at a time.
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Maui’s Honoapiilani Highway will be limited to local traffic past Kapalua following two recent incidents of falling rocks, the Hawaii Department of Transportation said in a news release Saturday.
The local access restriction will begin at 7 a.m. today and will remain in place until further notice as crews assess the risk of more rockfalls.
On Friday, rocks were reported on Honoapiilani Highway/Kahekili Highway past the Nakalele Point Light Station at mile marker 39.5. Additional rockfalls on Honoapiilani Highway at mile marker 36.5 (Honokohau Valley) were reported Saturday.
HDOT said electronic signs will be placed on Honoapiilani Highway at Fleming Beach on the Kapalua side of the limited closure. There will also be signs on Kahekili Highway at Camp Maluhia.
The highway may be reduced to one lane in areas and there may be intermittent traffic stoppages as the contractor works.
