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Makapuu rockslide The use of dynamite, road closure times and the color of a retaining net are among the details that the state must address before starting a project to decrease the danger of rockslides on Kalanianaole Highway at Makapuu Point.
project on table
Residents will be able to voice
Permanent fix planned
concerns about the temporary fixBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comThe Department of Transportation hopes to hold a public informational meeting about its Makapuu rock-scaling project next month to address what it calls an "existing rockfall hazard." The project, a temporary fix before a permanent solution is found, is expected to go out to bid by May, with work starting next year.
It is a project that some residents are anxious to hear about, especially since the roadwork will mean temporarily shutting down traffic between Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai.
"Try to count the number of tour vans and buses that go past Makapuu every morning. ... This is going to affect our tourist industry big time," said Wilson Ho, Waimanalo Neighborhood Board chairman. "And on weekends there's a lot of traffic just between Makapuu Beach and Sandy's.
"Choose your times carefully because you're going to strand a lot of people."
But state Highways Administrator Glenn Yasui said, "It's not going to be like Waimea," referring to the state's work along Kamehameha Highway after a rockslide in March 2000. "We're not going to shut off the road completely."
Yasui said he expects to set a specific date for the informational meeting soon, possibly during the second week in April. The project itself is expected to begin in February and could take a year to complete.
Specifics about the project so far include removing about 15,000 to 18,000 square yards of rock from the cliffside above the highway. The area of removal is 200 to 250 feet above the road and 900 feet long.
Transportation officials said rock-removing work will probably involve workers rappelling down the cliffside and using dynamite.
After that, netting -- similar to the type used above Kamehameha Highway at Waimea and the cliffs of West Maui above Honoapililani Highway -- will be draped over the scaled-back area to prevent rocks from falling.
"What we learned from Maui is that people are very sensitive to aesthetics," said Yasui. "So we're looking at making the net a brown color maybe, that blends in with the rocks. We'll have samples at the meeting."
Transportation officials said they want to hear from the community about potential road closures. Though a draft environmental assessment of the project calls for "temporary daily road closure during nonpeak traffic periods for a duration of about three weeks," Yasui said the state is more than willing to work with residents and businesses.
"We do have a plan, but that's not to say that's the only way to do things," said Yasui. "If there's input we can use, we'll try to incorporate those ideas."
Ho is hoping the meeting will take place soon, before someone bids for the project.
"What happens is, they put it out to bid, then the community sees the plan and we say, 'No, let's do this instead,' and now they have to add $2 million for changes that they never informed us about in the first place," Ho said.
The project is what Ho calls a Band-Aid solution to the potential rockfall hazard at Makapuu.
Transportation officials said a permanent fix is still in the planning and design phase, but options include tunneling a new highway through the mountain, building a canopy above the highway or moving the highway farther away from the cliff and building a catchment for falling rocks, similar to what was built at Waimea Bay. Transportation officials do not expect to begin work on that project until at least 2004.
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While next year's rock-scaling project at Makapuu Point is temporary, the Department of Transportation said a permanent fix is needed for the sake of public safety. Three options that the department has mentioned include: Permanent fix for
Makapuu planned>> Building a canopy or some sort of other protective cover over the existing road.
>> Moving the road away from the slope of the mountain by creating a cantilevered roadway. This idea leaves enough room for a rockfall catchment area such as the one near Waimea Bay, and extends the highway over the cliff on the makai side of the road.
>> Tunneling through the mountainside and realigning Kalanianaole Highway with the new path. The DOT could also choose to run one lane of the highway through the mountain and the other around the mountain using the existing road. In that scenario, the lane closest to the cliffside would not be used and would act as a catchment area for falling rocks.
DOT officials said the permanent Makapuu project is in the survey and design phase and is not projected to begin until February 2004.