AINALOA, Hawaii >> Hawaii County and Ainaloa community representatives emerged in good spirits from a meeting on a locked emergency road yesterday, but with widely differing views on what they accomplished. County optimistic
about reopening roadBut Ainaloa residents want
improvements made before relentingBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comIf everything goes smoothly, the gate across the road might be unlocked in 10 days, said Dennis Lee, county director of Public Works.
Ainaloa Roads Committee Chairman Philip Brazier said he doubts the gate will ever be unlocked to general traffic.
The meeting with Ainaloa residents was requested by Mayor Harry Kim following closure of the upper end of the road by the community Wednesday, except to emergency vehicles.
Ainaloa residents are worried about safety. Since the road became a shortcut between upper and lower Puna, traffic on the paved but substandard Ainaloa portion has increased by more than 600 cars per day. There have been numerous accidents, with at least one of them fatal, residents say.
Federal and county funds were used to create the emergency route, which links existing private roads, but Ainaloa retains ownership of its 3-mile segment.
Both Kim and Lee said they thought Ainaloa representatives agreed yesterday to reopen the gate as soon as improvement plans are approved.
Brazier says the gate will not open until improvements are built.
"All the work would have to be accomplished before the gate is opened," he said.
That includes rebuilding the hilly road to county standards, he said, a nearly impossible task given the county's lack of money.
The county has only $7 million a year to maintain all its roads on the island, Lee said.
"Obviously, we don't have enough money to do all (the improvements in Ainaloa) at one time," he said.
Original plans under former Mayor Stephen Yamashiro were for Ainaloa to donate the road to the county, but now, Brazier said, the county should buy it because the purpose has changed from an emergency road to a "highway."
Kim says there was no change. The paperwork with $750,000 in federal funds used for the project shows the intent was always "ingress and egress," not just emergency use.
Brazier was not alone in his opinions. After yesterday's meeting, community association president Bill Coney said, "Nothing has changed."
Hawaii County
