GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
A Department of Transportation worker inspected a portion of the hillside that slid onto the road at Castle Junction near Pali and Kamehameha highways early yesterday.
Castle Junction
turn to stay closedAfter three landslides, officials
say the lane will be closed
until the problem is solved
The right turn from Kalanianaole Highway to Kamehameha Highway at Castle Junction will remain closed until state officials can figure out what to do about a hazardous landslide problem there.
In the last 2 1/2 weeks, there have been three landslides, the latest one taking place yesterday at 4 a.m. There have been no injuries or property damaged during the slides.
This morning engineers hired by the state from Earth Tech, Inc. examined the hillside above the highway.
Department transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa says the engineers and the state are still evaluating what to do next.
"The question is should we do the one area or should we do the whole ridge?" Ishikawa said. He said possible work might include scaling back the mountain or stabilizing the top of it.
In the meantime, the turn lane, which is the main route connecting Kailua with Kaneohe, will remain closed.
"Our concern is that these three landslides happened without any rain," said Ishikawa said yesterday. "So what happens during the next big rain? A heavy rain could bring a good chunk of land down."
According to a state study released last month, the area of yesterday morning's landslide was ranked as one of the top five areas on Oahu where landslides were likely to occur.
Ishikawa said illustrating the danger was a rockfall that took place at 2 p.m. -- hours after the Department of Transportation had closed the lane yesterday.
"A small amount of rocks came down, the biggest one the size of a softball," he said. "It's a good thing we closed down the road. It'll stay closed until we fix the problem."
The other two landslides took place on May 20 and 23. All three involved mostly soil and not rocks falling onto the road. Yesterday's landslide brought down an estimated 30 cubic yards of dirt, or "three small dump-truck loads," said Ishikawa.
The Department of Transportation has asked Hawaii Pacific University for access because the land above the highway is part of the campus' property. HPU officials said yesterday, however, that their master plans show a 40- to 80-foot easement, which means the state does not necessarily have to go through its property to get the job done.
"There was always an understanding that corner had an easement and that the state has been responsible for that area," said E. Rick Stepien, HPU vice president of administration. "But regardless, we have to get the work done and sort out the details later. This is a public safety issue."
Barricades and a police officer have been placed along Kalanianaole Highway to prevent people from using the right-turn lane onto Kamehameha Highway.
For now, those wanting to make a right onto Kamehameha Highway will have to do so from the middle lane of Kalanianaole Highway. The far left lane is designated for town-bound motorists headed for Pali Highway.
Other alternate routes are to take Kapaa Quarry Road to Mokapu Saddle Road or Kaneohe Bay Drive.
Star-Bulletin reporter Michelle Mueller contributed to this report.
