A portion of Kamehameha Highway in Hauula collapsed Tuesday, prompting more discussion about what to do about the ocean erosion and sea level rise affecting the highway and nearby communities.
Ed Sniffen, director of the state Department of Transportation, said in a news conference that the department was notified about a sinkhole on the highway at about noon Tuesday.
When DOT crews arrived, a sewage truck that had gotten stuck in the sinkhole was already removed with the help of community members.
The sinkhole, which Sniffen said was 30 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep, affected only the shoulder of the highway and was the result of ocean erosion underneath the road. The eroded section has been filled with gravel, and crews will come back today to finish up repair work.
Hauula resident Derrick Pressley said something needs to be done immediately before someone gets injured.
Pressley spoke to the
808 Hauling Services truck driver who was traveling Kahuku-bound on Kamehameha Highway on Tuesday morning when a portion of the road “gave out.” The sewage truck became stuck when the road collapsed.
No serious injuries were reported. Photos of the affected area show the collapsed portion on the shoulder of the northbound lane. The truck’s front passenger tire is seen stuck in the hollow portion of the road.
A $500,000, six-month project to fix the section of the highway for five to 10 years will begin later this month, Sniffen said.
The project will “replace all of that older revetment from where this incident occurred throughout all the areas where we have those bags that are protecting the slopes,” he said.
“It’s going to take six months to remove all those bags of rock and replace it with boulders and cobble,” Sniffen added.
He said that there still needs to be consultation with the community and other government entities before any long-term plan can be decided on, but floated a $1.5 billion plan to raise or move a 10-mile section of the highway and other infrastructure between Hauula and Kaaawa away from the ocean.
He said there isn’t yet a timeline for when a permanent solution will be decided on, although he did say there is urgency to do so.
“Our roadway is going to be underwater by 2100, just based on the state’s predictions of sea level rise,” Sniffen said. “The road is there to service that community, but if that road is inundated, we have to assume the community will be inundated as well. So, if we don’t take actions now to protect the community there, then the road won’t be necessary if the community’s not there.”
Part of the DOT’s decision-making will be based on input on whether affected communities in the area will be there by the end of the century.
Sen. Brenton Awa (R, Kaneohe-Laie-Mokuleia) was confident that residents will stay.
“My family and friends, they’re going to say, ‘We ain’t leaving, we don’t care if the ocean’s coming,’” Awa said at the Tuesday news conference. “This is the home of the Red Raiders, this is Koolauloa. This is a tightknit community — we’re not going to let it go.”
Sniffen and Awa are encouraging the public to voice their opinions on the matter at neighborhood board meetings or by reaching out to county and state lawmakers representing the area.
Sniffen said the DOT will make a survey available to the public on its website to collect ideas and opinions about what to do about the erosion and sea level rise.
Coastal erosion is an ongoing concern for residents in Hauula and other parts of the state.
Emergency repairs took place in Hauula in January 2020 after a section of the shoulder and part of the lane along Kamehameha Highway, north of Pokiwai Bridge, collapsed into the ocean. The shoulder was undercut approximately
20 feet in both directions from the collapsed area.
In April 2019, coastal erosion damaged a part of highway, south of the bridge near Hulahula Place.
