Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
Ainaloa association
closed road linking parts
of Puna districtQuestion: What ever happened to the controversial emergency road linking parts of the Big Island's Puna district?
Answer: Closed with a gate by the Ainaloa Community Association last June, the 10.5-mile road that was a shortcut for motorists still is closed -- with no immediate prospect of reopening.
Motorists are paying a private lot owner $1 per trip or offering beer and other gifts to drive through his lot in order to circumvent the gate. The Ainaloa association is considering suing him to halt the practice.
Conceived in the 1990s, the road was meant as an emergency link between rural communities in upper and lower Puna in case of a major fire, flood, or other emergency.
The road is made up of two existing private roads: one through Hawaiian Acres in upper Puna and one in Ainaloa in lower Puna, which were linked.
From the start, the road has been controversial with complaints that it is unsafe because of narrow rights of way and blind hills. Concerns over speeding, several accidents and a fatality led Ainaloa officials to put up a gate to shut off its portion of the road.
(Ainaloa officials took that gate down and put up another after discovering the first gate was erected on county property and not on Ainaloa property.)
Despite Mayor Harry Kim's requests, Ainaloa officials refused to take down the gate.
Bruce McClure, public works chief, said he is working on a list of improvements to make the road safe, but finding funds will be difficult.
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