RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Eugene Lee, right, acting director of the city Department of Design and Construction, took U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, left, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and others to view rain-affected areas of Round Top Drive yesterday.

Inouye presses for quick road fix

Round Top Drive: Long-term stabilization of the hill could cost more than $20 million

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye promised at least $1 million in federal funds to reopen Round Top Drive within six months, but a permanent repair is likely to cost millions more.

City and state officials estimated yesterday that repairing the road and stabilizing the sliding hillside could cost an additional $17 million to $20 million.

Heavy rain in February and March caused tons of sandy volcanic soil above Maunalaha Road to give way, spilling onto Round Top Drive and cutting a canyonlike channel into Maunalaha Valley, burying cars and threatening homes.

Round Top Drive has been closed at the 2700 block since the March 31 storm because water runoff and an ongoing landslide have undermined the road.

City spokesman Mark Matsunaga said city crews have removed more than 100 truckloads, or about 800 tons, of soil from Round Top Drive so far, and the soil is still falling on the roadway.

"We must resolve this emergency here. It can't wait for a year," Inouye (D-Hawaii) said yesterday after touring the landslide area near Round Top Drive with Mayor Mufi Hannemann and state officials. "It's not a question of should we or should we not."

Inouye said he will also try to get Defense Department funds to help the city fix the aging sewer system in Waikiki that sent about 50 million gallons of sewage into the Ala Wai Canal and Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

Inouye said Fort DeRussy in Waikiki will benefit from the sewer repairs, so he will discuss with the military whether federal money can be given to the city.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Trash and other debris littered a portion of the Ala Wai Canal yesterday. A cleanup of the boat harbor starts today.

He said diverting $1 million to flood relief will mean cutting money from other Hawaii projects. Inouye declined to say what might be cut.

Maunalaha Road residents got a chance to speak with the senator and said they were pleased that the city and state are working together.

The city owns Round Top Drive, and the state owns the hillside. The Maunalaha community is a native Hawaiian settlement that goes back several generations, and residents lease their land from the state.

Leinaala Lopes, a kupuna who has lived in Maunalaha all her life, said they are often "stuck between the city and the state" over who is responsible for their neighborhood.

"They are forgetting about us down in the valley," she said, concentrating instead on the "high muckamuckas" who live in the expensive homes further up Round Top Drive.

Hannemann estimated a permanent repair to Round Top Drive will cost about $10 million.

State Adjutant General Robert Lee said the state estimates another $7 million to $10 million is needed to stabilize the hillside and prevent future landslides.

Deputy Civil Defense Director Ed Teixeira said he expects the work will involve removing the loose soil that could slide down, stabilizing the remaining hillside and diverting future water runoff around the area.