CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM The scenic road around Makapuu, popular with tour buses, above, is closed daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until Nov. 27 to make the area safer from rockfalls.

Dead end

Waimanalo businesses dependent
on tourists report a dramatic decline
since the state closed Kalanianaole
for cliff-side stabilization work

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By Genevieve A. Suzuki
gsuzuki@starbulletin.com

Waimanalo, usually bustling with tourists on their way to and from Hanauma Bay, experienced a dramatic decrease in business after the state closed Kalanianaole Highway to begin construction on the hillside above Makapuu, residents and businesses reported.

"It's a ghost town," said resident Mahi Widemann. "I've never seen Waimanalo like this."

Kalanianaole Highway will be closed from Makapuu Lookout to Makapuu Beach Park every day until Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Construction was moved up from February after a rockslide closed the highway for 13 hours on Oct. 15.

About 9:30 a.m. yesterday, Royal Construction Co. Ltd. prepared to scale back loose rocks and debris and get rid of rocky overhangs through controlled blasting.

"They've closed the road at the heart and soul of my hours," said Sea Life Park General Manager Wayne Nielsen. "We couldn't have picked hours that would be worse."

Yesterday only half of the usual number of tour buses and trolleys stopped by the park, according to Nielsen. "I had hoped to see a better flow oftraffic than what I'm seeing," Nielsen said. "This is disappointing to me."

"I'm hoping this won't be a 9/11," Nielsen said. "That would be catastrophic." After Sept. 11, 2001, Sea Life Park revenues were down 50 percent to 60 percent, he estimated.

GENEVIEVE A. SUZUKI / GSUZUKI@STARBULLETIN.COM James Pakele from Royal Construction Co. Ltd. prepared the roadway for the accelerated improvements.

To offset a drop in visitors, Nielsen announced yesterday a "road closure special" for kamaaina, dropping adult admission to $9.99 from $12 and children's admission to $4.99 from $6.

Hawaii's Hidden Treasures Manager Jae Im Kang said only two tour buses stopped at her Waimanalo Shopping Center store by 1:30 p.m. "I'm staying open today just to find out what it'll be like," said Kang, who sent two employees home at 9:30 a.m.

Kang said the loss of business will force her to cut store hours to two hours a day from eight hours a day.

Point Break surf shop owner Toni Blanchard, whose store is located near 7-Eleven on Kalanianaole Highway, was also worried about the lack of visitors. "There's nothing," she said. "If it keeps up like this, I don't know what I'll do."

Blanchard said she has been brainstorming ideas to help jump-start community involvement, including a Waimanalo block party and a carnival.

GENEVIEVE A. SUZUKI / GSUZUKI@STARBULLETIN.COM Waimanalo resident Mahi Widemann was among the motorists turned around at Makapuu yesterday.

Jolene Tam Loo, better known to Waimanalo residents and regular customers as "The Corn Lady," said her business was "just average."

"There are cars on the road, but when I see them, it's not our community people," said Loo, who has been selling corn at the side of the road near L&L Drive-Inn in Waimanalo for more than 30 years. "But it's not busy as usual."

Many of the cars passing by Loo were tourists who belatedly discovered they had to take Pali Highway to get to Hanauma Bay.

Cincinnati residents Douglas Toms and Julie Pawlikowski, who were staying at the Turtle Bay Resort, were disappointed to find out they could not get to Hanauma Bay from Waimanalo.

Toms said the signs along the highway about the Makapuu closure were confusing to visitors using road maps from rental car companies. "It says some road is closed, but we see it as Highway 72," said Toms, gesturing to his map.