The front of a lava flow headed toward Pahoa town on Hawaii island was 0.6 to 0.7 mile from Apaa Street and a critical waste and recycling transfer station Tuesday.
Because the front of the flow from Kilauea Volcano continues to stop and stall, officials at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory were not predicting when it could reach Pahoa.
The front of the flow stalled over the weekend but advanced about 30 yards since Monday. A "breakout finger" on the southeast side of the flow, meanwhile, had advanced 125 yards since Monday and could overtake the current leading edge.
Hawaii County environmental management officials have identified a new location for the waste and recycling transfer station above a skate park at the Pahoa Community Center, said Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira.
Meanwhile, a temporary school in the parking lot of Keaau High School for students displaced by the lava came in well under budget, state schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi told the state Board of Education on Tuesday.
School officials had estimated it would cost $9 million to build at least 17 classrooms out of 10 air-conditioned, portable modules. Instead, the cost came in at $3.6 million, Matayoshi told the board.
The emergency school will open if lava crosses Highway 130, the main road in and out of lower Puna.
It can handle up to 500 students from Keonepoko Elementary, Pahoa High & Intermediate, and Pahoa Elementary who live north of the flow.
Students who live south of the flow would continue to go to their regular schools as long as those campuses are not affected.
Meanwhile, construction is scheduled to begin Friday on an emergency exit out of lower Puna along Chain of Craters Road through Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
The work will mean the closure of a popular half-mile section of paved road that visitors used to access the lava that covered it in 2003.
"The popular ‘Road Closed’ sign enrobed in lava will be removed to become part of park history," the park said in a statement. "Other closures include the historic flows and coastal area alongside the construction. Holei Sea Arch, the turnaround, bathrooms and concession stand near the turnaround will remain open."
Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said in a statement, "Now is the time to take those last photos of the iconic ‘Road Closed’ sign before it is removed on Friday."
The 19-mile-long Chain of Craters Road opened in 1965 but has been covered and blocked by lava for 37 years, the park said.
