Proposed Maui WAILUKU >> State transportation officials have completed an environmental impact statement for the Kihei-Upcountry Maui Highway.
highway draws
residents' criticism
Some people feel that the new
route would not help relieve trafficBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.comBut some Kula residents have raised questions about the need for the highway, and south Maui residents say the route should swing farther south and closer to the population center in Kihei.
The proposed two-lane highway, eventually expected to become four lanes, would provide a straighter route than Mokulele Highway between the bedroom communities of Upcountry Maui and resort destinations in South Maui.
It would connect at Piilani Highway at Kaonoulu Street and Haleakala Highway at Haliimaile Road.
State transportation official Ronald Tsuzuki said the route was located on the northern end of Piilani Highway in Kihei to allow Upcountry residents the ability to use the highway also as an alternative corridor to West Maui.
Tsuzuki said he doesn't believe the route will eliminate any truck farming land in lower Kula but it does take away some farmland from Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co.
Hawaiian Commercial's parent company, Alexander & Baldwin Inc., supports the road as long as the state provides mitigation measures to allow the continuation of farming in the area, said Meredith Ching, a vice president with the firm.
Kula Community Association board member Steven Sutrov said his group believes the state should focus first on improving existing roads.
Sutrov said that if the proposed highway is to be developed, the association feels the connection at Haliimaile is the best alternative.
He said his association believes an overpass is needed at the Haliimaile-Haleakala junction and disagrees with state officials who feel that traffic signals are enough to control traffic.
Sutrov said the Upcountry community doesn't need another traffic light on Haleakala Highway.
"I think they should do it right the first time," Sutrov said.
Kula resident Dick Mayer said he feels the road isn't needed and that federal and state officials should focus their efforts on building a new road linking west and central Maui.
"It's all pork barrel at this time," Mayer said.
Kihei Community Association board member Barney Eiting said placing the road at Kaonoulu serves no purpose because it's too far from centers of employment and population in south Maui.
"It's really pretty ludicrous," Eiting said. "It's not going to give us any relief."
Eiting said the association has been in favor of a route further south near Kamalii Elementary School.
The Maui Economic Development Board, a volunteer group of businesses focusing on strengthening and diversifying the economy on the Valley Isle, supports a Kihei-Upcountry Maui Highway, said its president Jeanne Skog.
Skog said the board didn't take a position on the exact route, but it feels the highway will help Maui as a whole.
"We really think it's going to be a tremendous step in trying to ease the traffic," she said.
The proposed two-lane corridor is expected to cost an estimated $86 million, including $75 million for construction, $5 million for the purchase of land and $6 million for building design.
Tsuzuki said that under the current plan, the federal government would assume 80 percent of the cost and the state would cover the remainder.
Tsuzuki said construction is scheduled to start in 2004 and be completed in 2007.
The state Office of Environmental Quality Control has until April 8 to send its recommendations about the environmental study to Gov. Ben Cayetano.
Copies of the study are available at state libraries in some locations, including Kahului and Kihei.
Maui County
