Delivery advances Mauna Kea telescope
HILO » Five tractor-trailers delivered heavy equipment as plans progress for a giant telescope on Hawaii island.
The equipment was delivered early Tuesday morning to the top of the island’s tallest mountain, the 13,796-foot Mauna Kea, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Wednesday.
The equipment will be used to clear land for the Thirty Meter Telescope, but it wasn’t immediately clear when that work will begin.
Heavy snowfall delayed delivery early this month so work could begin on the $1.4 billion project, the largest observatory to be built on the mountain.
The observatory is expected to be operational by 2024, the same year a 39-meter telescope is expected to be completed in Chile.
Sandra Dawson, a spokeswoman for the California-based Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory, said its partners were excited to see the project move forward after a seven-year public agency review. The observatory is supported by researchers from Canada, China, India, Japan and the United States.
Some Native Hawaiian groups oppose the telescope because they consider the island’s tallest peak sacred.
Protesters disrupted a groundbreaking ceremony in October. About 20 protesters were on hand Tuesday, but there were no disruptions, said Dan Meisenzahl, spokesman for the University of Hawaii, which leases the summit.
Dawson said the observatory has all regulatory approvals needed to move forward with construction.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
One-way traffic will be in place for hula festival
A temporary one-way traffic pattern will be in effect on Kalanikoa Street in Hilo for the 52nd Annual Merrie Monarch Festival.
Traffic will be allowed to flow in the makai, or northerly, direction on Kalanikoa Street between Piilani and Kuawa streets during the four-day festival, which gets underway on April 8. The one-way pattern will be in effect from noon April 8 through 8 a.m. April 12.
