Looming boulder crashes onto Big Island roadway
A dangerously perched boulder that prompted state officials to close Highway 19 in the Hamakua area today has tumbled several feet to the roadway.
State Department of Transportation closed the highway at about 3 p.m. near mile markers 28 and 29, in the Kaawalii Gulch area, for crews to remove the boulder from the hillside, Hawaii County Civil Defense said.
DOT posted a video of the boulder crashing down to the highway on its Twitter account at about 4:30 p.m. and said it would allow cars to pass intermittently while the debris is cleaned up.
#HawaiiIsland #hitraffic 4:30 PM 8/25 update: the rock has come down on Highway 19 near Kaawali Gulch. We will let traffic through intermittently while we clear the debris from the road. pic.twitter.com/1jFKCatRU9
— Hawaii DOT (@DOTHawaii) August 26, 2018
Also on the Big Island, one lane was closed on Highway 11 near the 30 mile marker in Volcano for DOT crews to repair earthquake and flood damage to the highway. A temporary traffic light has been installed in the area to assist with traffic.
The repair work is expected to last about two weeks.
There were also numerous secondary road closures this afternoon on the Big Island.
A map of current road closures can be found here.
