Kauai residents say state misled them on rationale for reopening Kuhio Highway

The state’s plan to restore access next month to Kauai’s north shore communities — cut off from outside traffic since the April 2018 flood — may have hit a new roadblock.

Residents are pushing back on the state Department of Transportation’s decision to reopen a 2-mile stretch of Kuhio Highway to outside traffic on May 1, and they have found a new argument to fuel their objections.

“The state flat-out lied to us,” said Wainiha resident Juliet Akana, who is among those in the closed-off communities that don’t want the highway to reopen.

Akana and others say the state’s stated reason for opening the road to all traffic was misleading. State officials said early this month they could lose federal funding for the $77 million road project if they don’t open the road soon. But federal officials said there is no requirement to open the road by a certain date.

Residents have been able to use the road on a limited basis for nearly a year. Some fear opening it to all comers will lead to traffic jams and a stream of curious tourists wanting to see the aftermath of the flood.

“It’s really sad that they (state officials) are prepared to let this community be overtaken by tourists when we’re not ready to host them yet,” said Akana.

Adding to the problem is the fact that repair work has not been completed on three area bridges at Waioli, Waipa and Waikoko streams, Akana said.

On April 4, DOT spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige said while DOT understood the community’s concerns, the state “cannot keep the route closed or limit access to motorists for reasons other than safety.”

“Continuing to restrict access after the emergency repairs to Kuhio Highway are completed could impact the eligibility of the repairs for the (Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief) program that provided the majority of the $77 million in funding needed to repair the route,” Kunishige said.

In a statement Tuesday, Gov. David Ige said, “While there is no federal deadline for the reopening, the state is compelled to meet its obligation to the federal government to complete repairs and reopen Kuhio Highway as soon as possible.”

Ige said that since April 2018 the community has urged the state to repair and reopen Kuhio Highway as quickly as possible and that the state put in a tremendous amount of money and effort to make that happen. The state is scheduled to complete repairs and reopen Kuhio Highway on May 1, he said.

“The state requested and was granted federal funding to expedite repairs by extending work hours and scheduling work around the caravans,” Ige said.

Local residents have been forming caravans or convoys to enter and exit the isolated communities at certain times while the roadwork continued.

Ige’s comments were made in reaction to an inquiry from U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, who began looking into the matter after her office was contacted by Wainiha resident Cyndy Johnson, one of many people concerned that a hasty road reopening could have an adverse impact on Kauai’s rural north shore communities.

“My office verified that there was no federal requirement to open Kuhio Highway by a specific date,” Hirono said.

While the state has determined the repairs to Kuhio Highway are complete, and made the decision to reopen the highway, Hirono said her office would “continue to provide accurate information about the federal government’s role in this or any other project.”

To be sure, residents and businesses in the isolated communities who have lost revenue from the absence of tourists have been clamoring for the highway to reopen.

Lumahai, Wainiha and Haena, which have a combined population of only 749 in the 2010 census, were attracting anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 tourists a day before rain drenched the island April 14 and 15, 2018, damaging some 32 sites along the road, including the three bridges.

Since then travel into and out of these communities has been limited to an average of 830 or so residents and others with county permission to travel through the damaged portion in the convoys.

In a letter sent to Ige and Kauai Mayor Derek Kawa­kami, Johnson said: “given the extreme burden being placed on the community by re-opening the road to all tourists prior to all repairs being complete, at this juncture we are requesting that the opening up of the highway not take place until the work is done.

“Your administration has indicated that all work will be complete by mid-June. So why open the road prior to that time? Those of us who actually live here have managed with the convoy system for nearly a year now,” Johnson said.

Some opponents to the reopening have threatened civil disobedience to block the road and note that in 2007 Kauai residents successfully stopped the arrival of the Hawaii Superferry on its inaugural run from Oahu to Kauai.

“There could be lots of sue jobs (lawsuits),” said Nancymae Chandler, who is still living in a tent at Haena Beach Park.

Akana, who like many in her community is still recovering from last year’s flooding, said she’s disappointed that the state has chosen to reopen the road over community objections.

“They really haven’t treated us nicely. They are doing what they want to do, and it has nothing to do with what is right.”