The cost to rebuild two abandoned dirt roads that could provide a lifeline in and out of Hawaii island’s lower Puna district has jumped $800,000 — to $2 million.
At the same time, state and federal officials are working on a third option to give 8,500 lower Puna residents a way out if lava from Kilauea Volcano overruns Highway 130, lower Puna’s main road.
They want to reopen a 7-mile stretch of Chain of Craters Road that’s been covered by lava several times already. Two of the 7 miles are on state land, and the other 5 are on federal land inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, said Brian Miyamoto, spokesman for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, formerly known as State Civil Defense.
Miyamoto could not immediately provide estimates of how much it would cost to reopen Chain of Craters Road, when the work would begin or when the road would be ready for traffic.
"The idea is to make it an all-weather, resilient road," Miyamoto said. "It’ll be mostly gravel and other packed materials, not asphalt-type material."
It’s the same approach that county and state crews are using on Railroad Avenue and the coastal road known variously as Government Road and Old Beach Road.
County officials originally estimated that the work to clear and gravel over the two overgrown dirt roads would be $800,000 to $1.2 million. Instead, the projected costs are now expected to reach $1.2 million to $2 million for both projects.
"We needed more fill material than expected," county spokesman Kevin Dayton said. "And they hit blue rock, which is considered the hardest of volcanic rocks and is presenting challenges in terms of construction."
Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Friday said the flow had slowed to a rate of 625 feet per day and could reach Apaa Street in Pahoa town in 13 days, get to Pahoa Village Road within 18 days and reach Highway 130 in 21 days.
On top of the rising cost of the two road projects, county officials know that they are also racking up unknown overtime costs for police — and for staff who attend weekend and nighttime community briefings to update residents on the lava flow.
The county also faces extra costs for flights to monitor the lava’s progress and to hire a private company around the clock to keep outsiders away from the rural Kaohe Homesteads subdivision that the lava first reached.
By comparison, county officials estimate that Tropical Storm Iselle last month caused $2.6 million in damage to county buildings and other county structures. They hope that federal funds reimburse the county for much of the $2.6 million in Iselle-related damage.
Two-lane Railroad Avenue is still expected to be ready by Wednesday, but Dayton emphasized that it will open only if Highway 130 becomes impassible. It was used to carry plantation-era trains from Kapoho to Hilo but has since been overgrown with albizia trees on the Hawaiian Beaches end.
Then, on Oct. 1, the one-lane Government Road will be cleared, graveled over and ready for traffic in case Highway 130 becomes covered in lava, Dayton said.
In the meantime, anxious Puna residents are monitoring the progress of the flow that at one point appeared to be heading directly for Lew Nakamura’s 5-acre nursery in Pahoa, about half a mile from where the lava is expected to cross Highway 130.
The lava has since changed direction from north to northeast, but Nakamura remains nervous.
"We’re on edge right now," he said.
No evacuation has been ordered, and county officials continue to tell residents and businesses to do what they feel is best.
"It’s unnerving because you don’t know what to do — when to leave," Nakamura said. "They’re not going to tell you you’re out unless it’s right on you. They told us that you guys have to pretty much make the decision when you’re going to abandon ship for good."
On Friday, Hawaii island police announced that a Keaau man faces the possibility of enhanced sentencing for allegedly burglarizing a home in the Orchidland Estates subdivision while the area was under a state of emergency.
On Sept. 8 an occupant of the house returned home and found the suspect entering the dwelling through a window, then exiting and fleeing in a van driven by another man.
A police investigation led to the arrest Thursday of 23-year-old Ronald Altura Jr., who was subsequently charged with burglary of a dwelling during an emergency declaration. Altura is being held at the Hilo police cellblock in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Because the alleged crime occurred during a declared emergency, the penalty could be upgraded from a Class B felony to a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison with no possibility of probation. A Class B felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Hawaii island Mayor Billy Kenoi proclaimed a state of emergency for the Puna district on Sept. 4 in response to the advancing lava from Kilauea.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Michael Tsai and freelance reporter Megan Moseley contributed to this report.
