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Waimea bypass spared
from high waves so far

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

A high surf advisory for the North Shore this week had Oahu Civil Defense and state Department of Transportation officials keeping a night-and-day watch for wave damage to the temporary detour road across the sand at Waimea Bay.

The Menehune Connector, opened a week ago today to bypass the site of a March 6 rock fall onto Kamehameha Highway, was not damaged or closed because of the high waves. Thursday night waves washed out sand adjacent to the temporary road, according to a state announcement. The contractor Kiewit Pacific Co. replaced it yesterday.

State officials decided yesterday that bicyclists may use the temporary road. Transportation Director Kazu Hayashida said cyclists should be able to keep up with the traffic flow on the narrow roadway, which has a speed limit of five miles per hour. Their alternative since March 6 has been to carry or push bikes across the beach.

Hayashida will present an update on the plans to build a new stretch of road past the rock-fall site at the Tuesday meeting of the North Shore Neighborhood Board. The 7 p.m. meeting will be at Alii Beach Park in Haleiwa.

Contractor's crews were to continue to remove loose rocks from the cliff face throughout the weekend and most of next week. They are getting rid of rock that would be a risk for workers who will build the realigned highway, according to the transportation department release.