Plans jell for improved
Saddle Road

Consultants present details
of the project's 2 Pohakuloa phases

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> A construction contract should be awarded by February 2003 for the first phase of improvements to the Saddle Road across the Big Island, says project manager David Gedeon of the Federal Highway Administration.

That's provided that Congress appropriates $28 million.

And it's provided that a lawsuit by attorney Katsuya Yamada does not block use of a needed piece of state land.

Okahara & Associates, a consultant for the federal government, held an informational meeting in Hilo last night describing the first two phases of the project along the Mauna Kea side of the Army's giant Pohakuloa Training Area.

The project runs 47 miles from Hilo to the Mamalahoa Highway in West Hawaii, but initial work deals only with 13 miles along Pohakuloa, Gedeon said before last night's meeting.

The first Pohakuloa phase would run from near the Mauna Kea Summit Road to a new Pohakuloa entrance on the north side of the base.

The second phase, about a year later, would continue from the new entrance to the Kona-side boundary of the base.

"This is really a great project. There have been so many deaths on Saddle Road," said Army Col. William Puttmann.

Congress already provided $12 million for design and for preparation of alternative areas for the endangered palila bird, since about 100 acres of palila habitat will be destroyed by the realigned highway.

The money was also used to remove 15 aging Quonset huts at Pohakuloa and to build replacement barracks there later.

Construction costs will be roughly $20 million to $25 million for the first phase, but officials are seeking $28 million to have money for associated needs, Gedeon said.

The project has been in preparation for about a decade. "We're all getting eager and optimistic," Gedeon said.

But lawyer Yamada has filed a court appeal against a state Board of Land & Natural Resources decision to grant a conservation district permit for a piece of state land that is part of the right of way.

Yamada says state law does not allow destruction of the 100 acres of palila habitat, even though 10,000 acres of new habitat will be created.

Yamada says he will ask the court for a "stay," which would prevent construction in the 100 acres and could force a major redesign.