When Rob and I walked up to Coconut Island in Hilo, the path to it suddenly stopped. Fencing blocked the collapsed pedestrian bridge, warning signs were posted, and the island sat empty across the water. People still wandered up, looked around confused, and turned back, clearly not expecting such a central Hilo park to be suddenly unreachable.
According to Hawaii County, a county worker was driving an 8,000-pound excavator across the 1968-built pedestrian bridge to clear storm debris when the structure buckled and failed at 7:40 am on November 14. The bridge near Banyan Drive, close to Queen Liliuokalani Gardens, has been the only access to the island. The worker was hospitalized following the collapse and later released.
Coconut Island is known by its Hawaiian name, Moku’ola.
That translates to “island of life.” Moku’ola was the site of an ancient Hawaiian temple dedicated to healing. If you were sick and swam around the small island three times, you would be healed, according to legend. During WWII, the island served as a military training area, and a diving tower was built. That 20-foot-high tower is still there and remains popular.
A park everyone uses, suddenly off-limits.
Coconut Island is not small or obscure. It is a large, open park just off downtown Hilo, used daily by both residents and visitors. Families spread out picnic blankets. There are two sandy beaches. Kids take turns jumping from the tower. People swim in calm water, explore tide pools, walk dogs, and linger without needing a plan.
It works because it is easy and because it sits right where people already are. You do not need local knowledge or a long drive. You walk over.
What the county says it does not know.
Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda has said he does not know whether it was common practice for county equipment to cross the pedestrian bridge. He has also said that an investigation is ongoing into which protocols were in place and how the decision was made to drive heavy machinery onto a structure meant for foot traffic.
The collapse happened just days after Alameda won the election, leaving him to inherit an apparent failure at one of Hilo’s most heavily used public parks.
What we saw on the ground.
When we visited Coconut Island this week, the bridge was still down, the island was still unreachable, and there was no visible repair work underway. There was no posted timeline at the site and no indication that construction was about to begin.
People continued to walk up, pause, and turn back. Some took photos. Others looked frustrated. It was clear many did not know the island was closed until they were standing right there.
The loss is not abstract. Coconut Island was one of the few places in Hilo where visitors could safely swim in the ocean without driving anywhere. It offered calm water, open space, shade, and a sense of ease that made it appealing to everyone, not just those who knew where else to go.
An extended timeline and rising costs prevail.
County officials estimate repairs will take between 18 and 24 months. Early cost estimates were around $2M. Alameda has since said a complete rebuild could reach $20M, depending on what engineers ultimately determine is required.
For now, the park remains closed, the bridge remains broken, and one of Hilo’s most widely used and beautiful public spaces sits quiet across the water. Beat of Hawaii will update when Hawaii County releases a clear repair plan or construction timeline.
All Photo Credits: Beat of Hawaii at Coconut Island, Hilo, Island of Hawaii.
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What a prime example of Hawaii inefficiency and lack of urgency with an important project to repair one short span of a pedestrian bridge for locals and tourists. Up to 24 Months to repair that? Surely you jest.
After Hurricane Ian, Ron Desantis the Florida Governor, quickly mobilized all available workers and effort, to at least temporarily repair a Three Mile causeway and bridging to Sanibel Island.
It was open for residents in just 20 days.
More permanent repairs were completed after that.
I honestly can’t believe the foot dragging and lack of leadership in Hawaii.
I’m assuming that you could still paddle over to the island.
“Above and Beyond” Incompetent. But not out of character for Big Island projects. The 1993 reconstruction of the Wailoa Bridge, which spans the Wailoa River at Kamehameha Avenue, in Hilo, took over 4 years, and “longer than the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge”, as documented on a near-daily basis at the time by the local Hilo newspaper. It was a very well-known local joke, with the not funny “joke” being on the local population. If this was a “can do” State, or if anyone in charge had an ounce of construction experience, the Coconut Island Bridge would be fixed already, and for a fraction of the estimated cost. Pathetic situation, in my opinion.
The concrete bridge entering Wahiawa took longer to build than the Golden Gate Bridge.
2 years? Definitely calculating that using Hawaiian Time.
The $2m is believable.
I would think a zip line in each direction would do the trick. Just add a landing pad in both directions with some stairs and call it some attraction. Cut the old bridge away at the edge of the support and modify to make work. I don’t think that would take 2 years and keep heavy machinery from ever crossing it again.
When does a bridge made for pedestrian traffic ever be engineered to handle an 8000 lb or 4 ton piece of machinery? The county worker should have never attempted this in the first place. IMO the driver should pay for the damage and nobody else. If tourist’s should be responsible for the cost’s of trail rescues then what’s the difference? No green fee money should have to cover stupid acts. If this is some county worker then it must imply that this individual is a resident or local. IMO Hawaii imposes penalties on tourist’s but not locals or residents. Just another hypocritical situation. Sorry if the state probably didn’t impose weight limits on pedestrian bridges or nobody thought one was needed.
You can build a “foot bridge” for well under $2 million. Use the same supports, add a couple more and make it a pvc type bridge. You could use treated redwood for a nicer look. No wonder HI is broke. How much of that $2 million would go to “consultants?” I’ll come over and have it done in 10 weeks. Better and less expensive.
I wish the bridge rebuild includes a second and third bridge. One connecting to Hilo side parking lot, two: connecting to the outer barrier where we can push the ships and motor boats out of the bay. Three bridges would mitigate the sludge, and a third foot bridge connecting to the fishing area at Reeds Bay. The third bridge would allow the bay to restore healthy plant life for the honu and wildlife and more space to wade and swim without having to trudge through sludge, out and around, and past the fishing lines which are often too far out to swim safely due to larger wildlife. Just one perspective. I do not claim to know what is best for Hawaii. I only like express my take on it. I would love to see the entire bay restored. What is best for the bay is often what’s best for humans.
Yeah, 1 million to repair and 19 million into some corrupt government officials pocket? Lol
If one is a good swimmer, can one swim to the island? Or perhaps paddle or boogie-board to it?
Great idea. Too bad this sign says “bridge and island closed”! Why can’t people be allowed to swim the short distance to Coconut Island? Certainly less dangerous than the hundreds of people jumping off the concrete platform there, every day, for decades.
Your story is incorrect in stating the collapse happened just after the mayor was elected. He’s been mayor for a couple years and this just happened over a month ago.
Minor correction that Alameda has been mayor for a little over 1 year now
The framing here makes it sound like the park is largely closed, which isn’t accurate. While a bridge closure affects a small section Moku Ola, the rest of the park Liliuokalani, remains open and continues to be widely used for picnics, exercise, fishing, photography, and recent County events like the holiday Enchanted Garden. Context matters, and this broader use deserves to be part of the story.
The bridge will take many years to fix, why you , because Hawaiian government is one of the worst in the United States, look at the sidewalks in front of kanapali Ali , years have gone by and absolutely nothing, lazy government, Really !!!
Unfortunately, it’s Hawaii. Everything takes 3x longer to permit and build and it will end up costing way more than the original estimate.
Well in “Hawaii time” 2 year repair time actually means 2.5-3 years.
I foresee a new toll bridge constructed and paid for by tourists, and after the bridge is paid for, the toll will remain in place for the State to use the money wisely!
Start a ferry, set up a kayak business, there should be ways to get over. Uber boat?
Some observations: The excavator had crossed most of the bridge already with no problem. The last leg of the journey was where the 62-year-old bridge broke. The weakest link is the rebar, and age.
First step, clean up the mess, which means removing the whole bridge.
Next step, rebuild or rethink what access means.
If H-3, Oahu light rail and so many other projects in the Islands is any indication, it will languish a Long time before any action is taken. And any use of the Green Fee or any other tourist related fees will have long taken their place in some politician’s pocket before a rebuild happens. Book it.
Aloha! So, $2 mil to repair the bridge. Doesn’t that fall under infrastructure which is the purpose of the “Green Fee”? Or at least that’s what I’ve been reading. Anyway, get the Army Corps of Engineers involved and you can have lunch on the island mid-week instead of 2 years. But seriously, it will be interesting to see if all the money being collected finds it’s way from the general fund to this project, or if the bridge will be another “Haiku Stairs”. Mahalo, and have a good New Year!