Residents spent Easter weekend stabilizing a portion of a road in Kahaluu that collapsed four months ago, triggering a landownership dispute with city officials.
Large boulders and fill were used to repair an area of Mapele Road that collapsed in November after heavy rain left a hole 4 feet wide, 15 feet long and 6 feet deep. Erosion-control grass was planted nearby.
The work was completed thanks to residents who supplied equipment and manpower, additional donations from the community, and a supply of road fill material from the city. Residents have also asked the city to donate guardrails.
Neighbors have been without curbside refuse pickup since Nov. 21 and have hauled trash to two refuse bins set up for them at Kahaluu Regional Park. The city expects to complete an assessment of the road by early next week and “is in the process of gathering the contractor construction data to assist us in providing an assessment of the work,” said city Department of Design and Construction Director Robert Kroning in a statement Wednesday.
“Without that data, a visual inspection by itself won’t provide the city the information we need for even a rudimentary assessment,” Kroning said. Additionally, he said the city Department of Environmental Services “will not make a decision on the resumption of regular refuse pickup for residents whose homes are beyond the area in question until DDC can get them the assessment.”
Kroning said the city plans to repave Mapele Road within the next six months.
Resident Nick Lohr, a general contractor and chairman of a steering committee set up by residents to address the condition of the road, said Wednesday that it is “in much better shape than (it) ever was.” He said that the repairs provided a “safe environment for people to drive.”
The community is also setting up a fund to reimburse residents for out-of-pocket costs, but the total amount for all the repairs has not yet been determined, he said.
“It just goes to show if you have a community of concerned people that you can get things done without the … bureaucracy involved,” Lohr said. “We’re not just sitting around and pointing fingers. We got it done.”
The city had said last year that it is not responsible for major reconstruction of Mapele Road because decades ago the original developers did not turn the road over to the city for ownership. Some of the road’s owners are also deceased. City property records show that the City and County of Honolulu, as well as several others, are listed as owners of Mapele Road.
Because of the damaged road, the city had worked out an agreement with a property owner to allow firetrucks to reach the mauka side of the road.
But some residents had maintained that the city should be responsible for the repairs.
“Most of the residents here … didn’t realize really that the road was private and that they would be part of the people that would be responsible for the repair,” Hank Seaman, who had to drive over the collapsed area to get to his home, said Wednesday. “Had the neighborhood not gotten together and done something, the nightmare scenarios could go on forever. The other people who have roads in limbo are going to have trouble as well.”
Ken LeVasseur, a Kahaluu Neighborhood Board member who lives on the ridge above Mapele Road, said residents have sought legal advice about ownership and liability issues and hopes the Mapele Road situation will help pave the way to address disputed roads in other communities. The city has said it cannot afford to take over responsibility of all private roads due to budget constraints.
“This just reaffirms that we have a serious issue,” said LeVasseur, who serves as the liaison between the Neighborhood Board and the Mapele Road steering committee. “It’s a rallying point for the community. This was the big problem. It’s pretty much solved now. But we also have a future.”
