Mesh net to secure
cliffs over Hana road

The state says it is acting to protect
the route's many tourists

WAILUKU » Scenic Hana Highway in rural East Maui is getting a partial makeover with the installation of its first metal net to catch any falling rocks.

State transportation officials plan to install metal mesh over an acre of hillside to protect motorists.

"What you don't want is rocks coming down and picking up speed," said state transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "That's when it becomes dangerous."

Ishikawa said there have not been any rockslides reported in the area recently. "It's just something they feel they need to do to keep it safe."

Ishikawa said the netting, which is already used along a hillside at Makapuu on Oahu, is black and appears from a distance like a shadow.

The general contractor, Prometheus Construction, is expected to cut into the slope, remove trees and install the netting.

A helicopter will be used to drape nets over the cliffs above the highway, and the netting will be secured at the top and bottom of the slope, Ishikawa said.

Work on the $1.3 million project, east of Puohokamoa Bridge on Hana Highway, is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Lane closures are expected at intervals of about 10 minutes.

Designated by the White House as the Hana Millennium Legacy Trail, the road is traveled by thousands of tourists daily to reach East Maui's waterfalls, tropical rain forests and scenic stops such as Piilanihale heiau near Nahiku, and Charles Lindbergh's grave in Kipahulu.

Green metal mesh netting was installed along Honoapiilani Highway at the Lahaina pali in the mid-1980s.