Projects to restore infrastructure damaged in the 2018 Kilauea eruption in Lower Puna are moving ahead, with environmental assessments scheduled to start for work on Highway 137 and Pohoiki Road, including potential restoration of water to Isaac Hale Beach Park, according to Hawaii County officials.
The historic eruption damaged about 13 miles of public roads and 14.5 miles of waterlines while also destroying or rendering uninhabitable nearly 750 structures in Leilani Estates, Kapoho Vacationland, Lanipuna Gardens and Kapoho Beach Lots.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved public-assistance grants in the amounts of $61.5 million for restoration of eligible roads and about $30 million for water systems, with a 25% county match.
Chief among the projects listed in the latest county update of infrastructure recovery plans is restoring 4.3 miles of Highway 137 covered by lava in the 2018 eruption and reopening Lighthouse Road. Others include restoration of inundated sections of upper Pohoiki Road and Leilani Avenue from Pohoiki Road to Kahukai Street, as well as realignment of lower Pohoiki Road as an alternate project to provide safe two-way access while preserving historic mango trees.
FEMA informed the county in August that environmental assessments will be required for the Pohoiki Road projects, including the potential waterline to Isaac Hale Beach Park.
Access to the beach park was restored in December 2018 when a temporary road was built over new lava covering Highway 137. The waterline project is dependent on FEMA approval and whether geologic conditions make it feasible, the county said.
The Pohoiki Road assessments will look at ground disturbance and potential impacts on sensitive sites, along with land acquisition and construction on more than an acre in order to smooth turns near the Puna Geothermal Venture plant as part of the upper-road project.
Work on the assessments is scheduled to begin in November and is estimated to take about six months to complete, with the county projecting construction to start in mid-2022 once FEMA approval is granted.
Recovery officials anticipate FEMA also will require an environmental assessment for restoration of Highway 137, which runs along the coast from Kapoho to Kalapana, “due to the need to design the roadway to safe standards over the new terrain following the eruption.”
The project includes restoration of Lighthouse Road, with the county vowing to devise a management plan for public access and the protection of wahi kupuna (ancestral places) at Cape Kumukahi.
Lava covered about 900 feet of the road, which provided access to Kumukahi and the popular Champagne Pond swimming hole before it was obliterated by the 2018 eruption.
The eruption also created a new black-sand beach at the site, which has been attracting residents and visitors who drive or walk over lava rock to get there. The county installed barriers at the intersection of Lighthouse Road and Highway 132 to prevent trespassing on private property and to protect public safety and natural and cultural resources. The coastline also is used by subsistence fishers.
Time frame
Work on Highway 137 is projected to start in May and could take up to two years to complete. The county said access to areas may become available as road construction progresses and conditions are safe.
While FEMA requirements for environmental assessments have delayed construction starts on the projects, county Public Works Director Ikaika Rodenhurst said doing the reviews concurrently will save some time. “This process also will allow time for construction costs to stabilize, which will help the county get more for its investments,” he said in a statement.
The county said the assessments “will ensure proper consultation with lineal descendants, and assessment and documentation of historic, archaeological and environmentally sensitive resources, including any impacts and mitigation actions.”
The county’s infrastructure recovery update also affirmed that the water system to inundated Kapoho subdivisions will not be restored, and that FEMA funds will not be used to rebuild lava-covered Hinalo and Lauone streets, located off Pohoiki Road in the Lanipuna Gardens subdivision near the bottom of Leilani Estates.
According to the county, any additional decisions regarding the two roads will be based on participation in the Kilauea Recovery Voluntary Housing Buyout Program, which will pay as much as $230,000 to owners of properties inundated or isolated by lava from the 2018 eruption. The buyouts are designed to provide some financial relief to property owners while reducing development and potential future losses in known hazard areas.
“The county based these decisions for use of federal recovery funding on continued engagement with communities impacted by the eruption in order to provide the best benefit for the Puna community in the long term,” said County Disaster Recovery Officer Douglas Le in a statement. “That includes addressing important issues such as participation in the county’s Voluntary Housing Buyout Program, traffic circulation, emergency evacuation, and social and economic needs for the area.”
Through Phase 1 of the buyout program, there are nearly 300 active applications, officials said. These include a total of 125 applications for properties in three Kapoho subdivisions and about 30 for Lanipuna Gardens.
Fund allocation concerns
Hawaii County Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz, whose district includes Puna, said she asked the administration to provide more information on the restoration projects at a Revitalize Puna virtual meeting Oct. 12, which she is co-hosting with the county’s disaster recovery team.
“There’s tens of millions allocated for roads, water and parks, not to mention $60 million from the state. We need to know how these dollars will be used to not just help Puna recover but to move the region forward and to increase resilience,” she said in an email.
“There is worry in community about money being used outside of Puna. I won’t let that happen. I’m going to do my part to ensure money stays in Puna because this kind of investment hasn’t been seen before; it’s an opportunity to strategically infuse capital and change the trajectory for the region.”
Le has emphasized that any unused FEMA infrastructure restoration funds will be directed toward alternate road and water projects in Puna.
Highway 132, another vital thoroughfare through the region, was restored in 2019 with $5.75 million from the Federal Highway Administration.
RECOVERY EFFORTS
For more information, including the Voluntary Housing Buyout Program, visit: recovery.hawaiicounty.gov.
