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Hawaii NewsTop News

Highway repairs in Volcano to require lane closures

State transportation officials said one eastbound lane of Mamalahoa Highway (Route 11) in Volcano will be closed at Mile Marker 29.3, starting today, to continue emergency surface repairs due to seismic activity at Kilauea.

The closure will be in place through Friday, while traffic in the remaining lane will be contra-flowed to allow traffic to flow in both directions. Work will then continue Saturday on the westbound lane of Route 11 in the area, also resulting in a lane closure through next Wednesday.

Between April 30 to Aug. 4, the USGS recorded approximately 60,000 earthquakes — with 4,400 of those earthquakes measured at a magnitude of 3 or greater. The strongest earthquake during that period was recorded at a magnitude of 6.9 in May.

The seismic activity contributed to the formation of rifts under Mamalahoa Highway, state officials said, near the entrance to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park between Mile Markers 28 and 30.

Since July 6, the state has been busy repairing subsurface voids between Mile Markers 28.7 and 31.7 along with the embankment at Mile Marker 30. Other repairs in the area are planned, and the state will continue to monitor this portion of Highway 11 with cameras.

All roadwork closures are regularly posted on the Hawaii Department of Transportation website on Thursdays and Fridays, as well as on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

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