The state’s reopening of a 2-mile stretch of Kuhio Highway on Kauai, which has been closed to non-local traffic for more than a year, is now slated for June 13.

The state Department of Transportation and Gov. David Ige had previously said that the road would reopen May 1. The date was later pushed to May 20. Now reopening has been delayed again so that DOT can conduct emergency slope stabilization on Kuhio Highway at the hill approaching Hanalei Bridge.

“Maintaining access to Haena and Hanalei for our residents and visitors is an important task,” Ige said in a statement. “We are grateful for the $77 million in federal assistance to rebuild the road following the April 2018 floods and are confident that the finished product will be safe and resilient to future events.”

Flooding April 14-15, 2018, which produced approximately 50 inches of rain in a 24-hour period and caused landslides, leaving a portion of Kuhio Highway with some 32 emergency repair sites. The ensuing roadwork cut off Kauai’s north shore beyond Waikoko from the rest of the island, affecting the communities of Lumahai, Wainiha and Haena.

The state’s push for a May 1 reopening had been controversial because repair work had not yet been completed on three bridges at Waioli Stream, Waipa Stream and Waikoko Stream. It also would have come in advance of the completion of construction work at Haena State Beach Park and the reopening of Haena Beach Park and the region’s public restrooms.

While this latest delay, which was prompted by a rock slide in Hanalei last week, is more aligned with the softer opening that critics wanted, some community residents remain concerned about the return of massive tourism numbers during a period of continued traffic disruptions. They say there are already conflicts between residents and vacation renters, whom the county allowed to return to permitted rentals May 1.

Wainiha resident Juliet Akana said the county’s decision not to allow visitor passes for friends and family members of residents in the cutoff communities has created tension.

“Everyone is approaching their limit,” Akana said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty and feelings that all of this is simply unfair.”

Elsa Flores Almaraz, a 37-year-resident of Haena, said only a few visitors have been permitted to return to the area, but some have been rude.

“People are having fights at the bridges — they don’t have the aloha spirit,” Flores Almaraz said. “We just need everyone to have patience.”